Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported this on Wednesday, citing the detainee's testimony.
The female suspect, Ahlam Albashir, said that one of the leaders of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK, outlawed in Turkey), codenamed Haji and based in Syria's Manbij, ordered her to move to Idlib and then to Turkey and wait for instructions to complete the task, the newspaper reported.
She also said that the WhatsApp applications had been downloaded to her mobile phone through two US phone numbers, adding that on November 13 she received a phone call from Haji, who instructed that she place a bag with the explosive device on a bank on Istiklal Avenue in the center of Istanbul and leave immediately, according to the report.
On November 13, an explosion occurred on Istiklal Avenue, as a result of which six people were killed and 81 others were injured. Albashir confessed to having links with the PKK. Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said that the order to commit the attack came from Kobani, a Syrian city near the Turkish border, while the perpetrator entered the country through the city of Afrin.