A timeline of major bomb attacks in Turkey

ISTANBUL: 38 people were killed and 166 wounded in Istanbul on Saturday when twin bombings struck the heart of the city close to the stadium of football giants Besiktas after a major game, Turkish interior minister said.

A car bomb detonated outside the Vodafone Arena football stadium on the shores of the Bosphorus after a match between Besiktas and Bursaspor while a suicide attacker struck a nearby park, officials said.

The attacks were the latest in a year that has seen Istanbul and other Turkish cities rocked by a string of attacks blamed on Daesh and Kurdish militants.

Following is a list of the worst bomb attacks in Turkey over the past three decades:

2016

August 20: 57 people, 34 of them children, die in a Daesh-linked bomb attack on a Kurdish wedding in the Turkish city of Gaziantep near the Syrian border.

June 28: 47 people are killed, including foreigners, and over 200 injured in a triple suicide bombing and gun attack at Istanbul´s Ataturk airport. There is no claim of responsibility but authorities say evidence points to Daesh.

June 7: At least seven police officers and four civilians die when a bomb rips through a police vehicle near the historic centre of Istanbul. The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a radical offshoot of the rebel Kurdistan Workers´ Party (PKK), claims the attack and warns tourists to stay away.

March 19: Three Israelis and an Iranian are killed and dozens injured in a suicide bombing targeting Istanbul shopping thoroughfare Istiklal Caddesi. Pro-government media blame Daesh.

March 13: 34 people are killed and dozens wounded in a suicide car bomb attack in Ankara. TAK claims the assault.

February 17: At least 29 people are killed in a suicide bombing attack targeting the Turkish military in Ankara. The attack is also claimed by TAK.

January 12: Twelve German tourists are killed and more than a dozen others wounded in a suicide attack by a Syrian bomber in Istanbul´s Sultanahmet district, the ancient tourist heart of the city and home of the Blue Mosque. The prime minister said the bomber belonged to Daesh.

2015

October 10: In the bloodiest attack in Turkey´s history, 103 people are killed and more than 500 wounded in twin suicide bombings targeting a pro-Kurdish peace rally in Ankara. The prime minister says Daesh was the main suspect.

July 20: 34 people are killed and about 100 wounded in a suicide bombing in the predominantly Kurdish town of Suruc near the border with Syria. Turkish officials again blame Daesh.

2013

May 11: A twin car bomb attack kills 52 people in the town of Reyhanli near the Syrian border. Ankara blames pro-Damascus groups.

February 11: 17 people are killed when a Syrian minibus explodes in Reyhanli.

2008

July 27: Two bombings in Istanbul leave 17 dead and 115 wounded. Ankara blames the PKK.

2006

September 12: 10 people, including children, are killed in a bomb blast in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the mainly Kurdish southeast.

2003

November 15 and 20: Four suicide car bomb attacks in Istanbul hit two synagogues, the British consulate and a branch of the British multinational bank HSBC, leaving 63 dead, including Britain´s consul general, and hundreds wounded. The attacks are claimed by Al-Qaeda and a Turkish extremist group named the Islamic Front of Raiders of the Great Orient.

1999

March 13: 12 people are killed in a firebombing on an Istanbul shopping mall. The attack is claimed by the PKK, which later retracts its statement.

1991

December 25: Explosives and firebombs are hurled at an Istanbul department store, killing 17 people and injuring 23. The attack is blamed on the PKK.

1986

September 6: A twin suicide bombing kills 22 people at a synagogue in Istanbul.