TURKEY/ UNITED KINGDOM: TURKEY SAYS IT HAS ARRESTED SEVERAL PEOPLE IN CONNECTION WITH TWIN TRUCK BOMBINGS ON BRITISH TARGETS IN ISTANBUL

Record ID: 338296

  • Title: TURKEY/ UNITED KINGDOM: TURKEY SAYS IT HAS ARRESTED SEVERAL PEOPLE IN CONNECTION WITH TWIN TRUCK BOMBINGS ON BRITISH TARGETS IN ISTANBUL
  • Date: 21st November 2003
  • Summary: (W4) ISTANBUL, TURKEY (NOVEMBER 21, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WIDE OF BRITISH FLAG ON ROOFTOP 0.07 2. WIDE OF BRITISH CONSULATE SURROUNDED BY DEBRIS 0.10 3. WIDE OF FORENSIC EXPERTS IN WHITE SUITS AT SCENE 0.15 4. HIGH VIEW OF WORKERS STANDING AROUND DAMAGED CARS BURIED IN RUBBLE (2 SHOTS) 0.26 5. WIDE OF PARKED CARS B
  • Embargoed: 6th December 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ISTANBUL AND ANKARA, TURKEY / LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • City:
  • Country: Turkey England United Kingdom
  • Reuters ID: LVA3XLQVO5DVY7AGREZB7SUETMX2
  • Story Text: Turkey buriess its dead from blasts, as statement
    purporting to come from al Qaeda network claims
    responsibility.




    Turkey said on Friday (November 21) police had
    arrested several people over twin truck bomb attacks on
    British targets in Istanbul that killed 27 people,
    including Britain's top diplomat in the city.

    A statement purporting to come from a unit of Osama bin
    Laden's al Qaeda network said it carried out Thursday's
    (November 20) strikes on the British consulate and the
    London-based HSBC bank, five days after two similar attacks
    on Istanbul synagogues.

    Crying mourners gathered at Istanbul's Aga mosque to
    bid farewell to a young Turkish man killed in the attacks.

    Relatives waited anxiously at one of Istanbul's main
    hospitals for news of injured family members.

    U.S President George W. Bush, on a state visit to
    Britain, pledged his solidarity with Turkey, a key NATO
    ally long promoted by Washington as a model of Islamic
    democracy.

    Headlines in Turkish newspapers reflected the sense of
    shock in a nation still reeling from Saturday's (November
    15) explosions at two synagogues.

    Photographs showed dazed and bloodied survivors at the
    scene of the blasts and the shattered HSBC and consular
    buildings.

    Thursday's twin bombings killed 27 people, including
    British Consul General Roger Short, and wounded more than
    400. HSBC said on Friday that not only was it going
    t
    o
    remain in Turkey but employees have already returned to
    work at other service centres, and none of its
    international staff was to be evacuated from the country.

    Britain has warned more terror attacks may hit Turkey
    and security was stepped up at U.S. and British embassies
    in the capital Ankara.

    A statement apparently from a unit of Osama bin Laden's
    al Qaeda network, the Abu Hafz al-Masri Brigades, and
    published on the Islamist website Al Mujahidoun, said it
    had carried out the latest attacks, but the statement could
    not be independently authenticated.

    The statement, in Arabic, said Turkey was targeted
    because of its membership in the "crusader" NATO alliance
    and its ties with the "Zionist entity" Israel.

    A Turkish group called the Islamic Great Eastern
    Raiders Front (IBDA-C) has also claimed joint
    responsibility with al Qaeda for all four Istanbul attacks
    and warned the network was planning more strikes against
    the United States and its allies.




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