Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) will initiate necessary steps to discharge a party member following a tweet insulting the wounded after a suicide bomb attack hit Istanbul's Istiklal Street on Saturday.
Hatice Yücel, the chairman of the Women's Branch of AK Party in Istanbul's Eyüp district, tweeted Saturday that the district organization took the necessary steps to discharge the member, and the views shared on social media certainly does not reflect the party's views. She also expressed her condolences to the victims of the attack and wished a quick recovery for the wounded.
As the news broke out that six Israeli citizens were among the injured, İrem Aktaş, a low rank executive in the Eyüp district organization, replied to a tweet by Turkish daily Habertürk reporting Israeli foreign ministry's statements on the issue as "wish they were all dead."
The tweet caused outrage on Turkish social media circles and was quickly reported by Turkish and Israeli news outlets. Following reactions, Aktaş deleted the tweet and closed her account.
Palestine's Ma'an News Agency reported that the six wounded Israeli citizens were Palestinians holding Israeli citizenship.
The membership count of the AK Party - Turkey's ruling party since 2002 - nears 9.5 million as of Jan. 2015 according to a statement by the party's then Deputy Vice Chairman Mustafa Şentop.
