- Title: Turkey's Erodgan promises to continue fight against terrorism
- Date: 11th December 2016
- Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (DECEMBER 11, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CROWD CHANTING "ALLAH-U AKBAR" (GOD IS GREAT)
- Embargoed: 26th December 2016 13:04
- Keywords: Turkey explosions car bomb suicide bombings casualties Tayyip Erdogan Binali Yildirim
- Location: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
- City: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
- Country: Turkey
- Reuters ID: LVA0035CFVAYV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday (December 11) said the government would continue its battle against terrorism, a day after a twin bombing outside an Istanbul soccer stadium killed 38 people.
Speaking at the scene of the attacks, Erdogan said: "What we must focus on is this terror burden. Our people should have no doubt we will continue our battle against terror until the end. If they plan to intimidate us with these attacks, we have not degraded ourselves to leave the arena to these cowards."
The blasts late on Saturday (December 10) - a car bomb outside the Vodafone Arena, home to Istanbul's Besiktas soccer team, followed by a suicide bomb attack in an adjacent park less than a minute later - shook a nation still trying to recover from a series of deadly bombings this year in cities including Istanbul and the capital Ankara.
There was no claim of responsibility, but Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said there was "almost no doubt" the attacks were the work of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has carried out a three-decade insurgency, mainly in Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast. Thirteen people have been detained, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said.
The blasts wounded 155.
Security remained tight in Istanbul, with police helicopters buzzing overhead in the Besiktas district near the stadium. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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