update The family of Elif Sultan Kalsen, who was identified by authorities as the suicide bomber in a Tuesday attack on police in İstanbul, denied that the body of the bomber belongs to their daughter.
Her father, Mehmet Kalsen, and mother, Şirin Kalsen, went to the Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) to identify the bomber as their daughter along with their lawyers on Wednesday.
After spending half-an-hour at the ATK, they reported that the bomber's body doesn't belong to their daughter as alleged by authorities.
A lawyer representing the family, Ebru Timtik, told reporters: “The body of a woman was shown to us inside [of the ATK] accompanied by a prosecutor. The body that we saw belonged to a white-skinned woman who was around 163 centimeters tall.
The mother and father of Elif Sultan Kalsen also came to the [room]. They looked at the woman's body. However, that body did not belong to Elif Sultan Kalsen.”
When asked if the family knows where Kalsen is, the lawyer replied that she has no information on that issue.
“The family hasn't had contact with her recently. That's why they cannot be sure of the reports [suggesting the bomber is Kalsen] circulating in the media. That's why we came here to be sure,” Timtik said.
The Turkish far-left DHKP/C has claimed responsibility for Tuesday's suicide bomb attack.
In a statement posted on "The People's Cry" website hours after the attack, the DHKP/C said the bombing was in protest of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) over the killing of 15-year-old Berkin Elvan, who died in March last year after spending more than nine months in a coma because of a head wound sustained during an anti-government protest. However, the group didn't disclose the name of the suicide bomber.