The heinous attack on İstiklal Avenue on Sunday, November 13, 2022, which claimed six of our citizens’ lives, received extensive coverage in the Iranian press, as it did worldwide. In the first hours after the explosion, before official statements had been issued, Iranian news channels on Telegram and news websites on Twitter showed intense interest, sharing every detail without verification. Less than an hour after the explosion, Telegram channels close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) identified the PKK terrorist organization as responsible. Even images of helicopters overhead were rapidly circulated, with the channels sharing every detail in real time. They soon began naming Jiyan Tosun as the perpetrator and disseminated all her personal information, from her Turkish identification number to her criminal record. Even after officials apprehended and publicly identified the actual perpetrator, and despite Tosun’s own statements, many major news sources, including ISNA, continued for a time to post that Tosun was responsible, repeating the earlier allegation over the detained perpetrator’s photograph.
After statements by the police and Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, the Iranian press began relying on official sources, and the story’s prominence declined. Developments were reported as they unfolded, alongside the Syrian foreign minister’s condolences and Hezbollah’s condemnations. Tasnim News Agency covered Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad’s comments to Al-Watan, in which he made allegations against Türkiye. In essence, he said Türkiye “should not see this incident as an opportunity for its military activities against Syria.”
Diaspora media covered the subject much more objectively than the domestic Iranian press, generally relying on official information. Beyond the incident itself, reports recalled earlier bombings, discussed measures taken on the evening of the explosion to prevent disinformation, and mentioned matters such as canceled matches. A few outlets, including Iran International, also included opposition commentary.
The only noteworthy analysis so far was published by Tasnim News Agency. Written by its international news department, it largely compiled reports from the Turkish press. It claimed that Soylu’s statements raised public suspicions and that, only minutes after the explosion, he had announced that the attacker came from Kobani and Afrin and acted on PKK orders. In fact, the minister spoke at the scene hours after the bombing. The analysis also claimed that, because Afrin was under Turkish control, terrorist organizations could not operate freely there, contrary to the minister’s account. It made further allegations about the perpetrator, broadly implying “suspicious” aspects to the bombing. Discussing Soylu’s remarks about the US condolence message, Tasnim cited “some analysts” to claim that he was not truly anti-American. Rather, it alleged, he wanted to strengthen his ties with Turkish nationalists and leftists and position himself as a candidate if President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was not nominated again. Erdoğan’s meeting with Joe Biden in Bali was likewise presented as contradictory.
A fire in Fatih on the evening of Tuesday, November 15, which burned five cars, also received extensive Iranian coverage as a terrorist attack in Türkiye. IRNA reported it under the headline “Another Explosion in Istanbul, This Time in Fatih,” while Hamshahri Online used “New Images From the Explosion Site in Istanbul: Three Cars Burned. Another Terrorist Attack?” These two major sources and many others devoted only two paragraphs to the incident before linking it to the Taksim bombing, attempting to present a simple fire as terrorism. ISNA, for example, similarly covered the incident in one paragraph, then shifted to unrelated discussion of Taksim and emphasized that Türkiye blamed the PKK for the bombing.
In conclusion, although the Iranian press broadly included official Turkish statements, commentary casting doubt on them was also widespread. There appears to be an effort to draw parallels between the heinous attack on İstiklal Avenue and events inside Iran. The Tuesday-evening fire in Fatih, in which five vehicles caught fire, was also portrayed as a continuation of terrorist incidents in Türkiye. Through this, every effort was made to create an image among Iranians of Türkiye, too, as “an unsafe country suffering from terrorism.”
This article was first published by the Center for Iranian Studies (İRAM) on November 17, 2022.
Link: https://www.iramcenter.org/turkiyedeki-bombali-saldirinin-iran-basinindaki-yansimalari-844