Bombings in Istanbul kill 17, wound dozens

28/07/2008

Two bombs killed 17 and injured more than 150 on an Istanbul street Sunday evening. Turkish officials are focusing their investigations on the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party.

By Ayhan Simsek for Southeast European Times -- 28/07/08

The first blast happened on a busy pedestrian street of the Gungoren district. The second, much larger blast came as crowds gathered. [AFP]

Two co-ordinated bombs exploded on a crowded Istanbul street Sunday (July 27th), killing at least 17 people, five of them children, and wounding more than 150.

Sunday night's bombing targeted civilians in the crowded Gungoren district of Istanbul. At the time of the explosion, pedestrians filled the street.

According to eyewitnesses, the first device was a small percussion bomb. A second bomb exploded 50m away, causing casualties among the crowd that had gathered around the site of the first explosion. Experts consider such timing a common terrorist tactic.

No group immediately claimed responsibility, but security officials are focusing their investigations on the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been pounded by an intensified Turkish air and ground offensive. Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler told reporters Monday that the investigation was focusing on the PKK.

But journalist Namık Durukan of the daily Milliyet, who closely follows the activities of the PKK, said the bombings were not typical for the group. Zubeyir Aydar of the PKK's successor organisation, Kongra Gel, denied in a statement any link to the attack, condemning violence against civilians

Turkish security officials suspect a young and more radical group operating under PKK auspices, Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), or another new radical group could be culpable. In 2006, TAK took responsibility for attacks on civilians in Istanbul and Antalya.

Turkish press reports late last year quoted security officials who warned that TAK had received orders from the PKK to launch sensational blind-terror attacks inside Turkey. The warning at that time said the group aimed to foment a Turkish-Kurdish civil war by striking at civilian targets as well as at prominent public figures. Turkish police detained a PKK member with 3.5kg of A-4 explosive late last year before he could detonate it inside an Istanbul subway station. The United States designated TAK as a terrorist group linked to the PKK in January.

The US Embassy in Ankara strongly condemned Sunday's attack in Istanbul. ""There is no justification for the killing of innocent people. We continue to support our ally, Turkey, in the fight against terrorism," the embassy said in a written statement.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan cancelled Monday's cabinet meeting and visited the Gungoren district, where he called for national unity in order to further isolate the terrorists. He also criticised Turkish media for publishing graphic photos, which he said would aid terrorist propaganda.

"We have been fighting terror for 30 to 35 years. ... This fight will continue until we win it," he said.

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