"The attack on the consulate is linked with the DHKP-C," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, referring to the Revolutionary People's Liberation Front (DHKP-C) which claimed a 2013 suicide attack at the US embassy in Ankara.

The same official said the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was behind a suicide attack on a police station in Istanbul that resulted in clashes that left three militants and one top police official dead.