[10] According to BBC, residents of Istanbul had already been vigilant before the attack due to the recent explosion in Ankara and were wary of going out.

[10] Following the bombing, according to Cumhuriyet, the Turkish government received heavy criticism on social media for defects in its security.

[11] According to a CNN Türk reporter on the scene, the suicide attacker was on his way to the actual target when the bomb went off in front of a restaurant.

[14] Another account from a Turkish official (cited by Reuters) states the bomber was "deterred" from his or her actual target by the police and set off the bomb "out of fear".

[21] While the authorities were quick to blame the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) given the Ankara bombing in February,[15] only upon further investigation in the afternoon, the Turkish authorities changed their initial assessment, now instead holding the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) accountable.

[23] PKK umbrella organization KCK said it opposed targeting civilians and condemned attacks on them.

[24] The next day, Turkish authorities announced that Mehmet Öztürk was reliably identified by DNA tests to be the suicide bomber of the Istanbul attack.

Born 1992 in Gaziantep Province and thought to be affiliated with ISIL,[1][2] he was one of two Turkish suspects the authorities were investigating.

The day before, Sabah had named Özturk and 33-year-old ISIL militant Savaş Yıldız from Adana,[25][26] who is also thought to be involved in the October 2015 Ankara bombings killing more than 100 civilians.