Two explosives-packed trucks were detonated outside the British Consulate and a London-based bank in Istanbul on Thursday, killing at least 27 people, including Britain’s consul general, and injuring more than 440.
The bombings, which appeared timed to coincide with President Bush’s meeting in London with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, came five days after attacks on two Istanbul synagogues killed 25 people, including two suicide bombers.
The same type of explosive was used in all four bombings, police said. And all bore the hallmarks of Al Qaeda, Turkish and British officials said. The majority of the casualties Thursday were Turkish Muslims.
The blasts Thursday shook two bustling neighborhoods of Istanbul, sending metal, glass and fire through streets and into offices and storefronts.
Tekin Inci, a restaurateur near the British HSBC bank building, said a “huge ball of fire” burst into his place of business.
“I ran outside and saw a head split open, lying on the street,” Inci said. “I saw people with eyes bleeding, knees bleeding, faces bleeding beyond recognition. Cars were burning. People were screaming.”
Minutes later, the second bombing occurred at the British Consulate 5 miles south. Consul General Roger Short, a career diplomat who once oversaw peace efforts in Bosnia, was among at least 13 killed at the British mission.
Police and security forces went on high alert after the bombings. Soldiers were deployed briefly throughout the city of 15 million and on surrounding highways.
Soon after the explosions, an unidentified man called the semi-official Anatolia news agency and said that Al Qaeda and a Turkish militant group, the Islamic Great Eastern Raiders Front, claimed joint responsibility for the attacks.
An Al Qaeda unit and the Raiders Front also claimed responsibility for the synagogue attacks, which injured hundreds. They had warned that more strikes were planned against the United States and its allies.
As in Saturday’s attacks, police said, pickup trucks were used to carry large amounts of homemade explosives to the scene Thursday. And once again, it appeared that the attacks were suicide missions.
“When we look at the events of five days ago they almost completely match today’s explosions . . . but it is too early to say who did this,” said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, adding that Turkey would be “like a giant fist” in punishing those responsible.
Turkish police and American authorities have warned in recent months that Turkey, the only predominantly Muslim member of NATO and a longtime ally of the U.S. and Israel, could be a target for attacks by groups such as Al Qaeda.
Turkish Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu and British Foreign Minister Jack Straw said the attacks were reminiscent of an Al Qaeda operation.
“I’m afraid it has all the hallmarks of international terrorism practiced by Al Qaeda,” Straw said in London, before he traveled to Istanbul to survey the damage.
However, a security official said that he believed the group responsible for this week’s attacks had to be new to Turkey. “There is no group operating in Turkey today, like the Kurdistan Workers Party, capable of such an attack,” he said.
The initial blast occurred about 11 a.m. Thursday at the Turkish headquarters of HSBC, the world’s second-largest bank, in the modern, commercial Levent district of the city.
Instantly, the air filled with acrid smoke and the streets were strewn with human remains, burning vehicles and glass. The entire facade of the 18-story bank building was blown away, and water from high in the structure cascaded to the street.
Minutes later, a second explosion rocked the British Consulate not far from Taksim Square in the historic Beyoglu district, punching through the compound’s high stone wall and crushing buildings inside.
In the hours after the blast, dozens of emergency vehicles lined the streets and a bulldozer cleared rubble. Search and rescue workers in red jumpsuits were picking through what remained of the buildings.
Nearby, Fahri Polat paused while cleaning long shards of glass from his barbershop.
“I heard the explosion and then felt a huge change in the air pressure. I thought the building would collapse on me,” he said. “I know earthquakes, so that’s what I thought it was.”
Five miles away outside the HSBC building, Murat Aysel stood dazed as he described the scene.
“I was working when I heard the explosion,” he said as he nursed a head wound. “I thought it was the gas tank in the kitchen. So I ran outside onto the street. I saw so many cars, maybe 10 or 15, burning. And I could see bodies in the cars, on the street, everywhere it seemed.”
One block away, Cenk Ayberkin kicked a twisted piece from a destroyed car in the driveway of his mother’s business, trying to make sense out of the tumult.
“I don’t understand what is going on here in my own country. I hear about bombings in other places, like Bosnia or Baghdad. But this is Istanbul. These people have struck at the very heart of our city,” he said.
Barely a pause
Terrorism experts were surprised the latest attacks came so soon after the blasts outside the synagogues. Normally, they said, extremists launch a big attack and then fade away to plan another. Instead, experts are now worrying about what could be next in Turkey.
“I think [the perpetrators] are watching now and are very proud of what they did and will probably have another attack,” a senior Turkish security official said. He added that authorities are especially concerned about the possibility of an attack on an American target.
The U.S. Consulate in Istanbul issued a warning to American citizens, advising them to “exercise extreme caution and maintain a low profile.” It also suggested staying away from Western businesses. The consulate itself was moved to a more easily defended and fortified location this past summer.
Turkish authorities, working alongside Israeli investigators since last weekend, had made some progress in the investigation of the weekend bombings. Using DNA tests, they identified two of the suicide bombers as Turks who had trained outside the country. Dozens of people have been questioned by Turkish police. Authorities would not say if they had detained anyone for the Thursday attacks.
But if the synagogue bombs stunned Istanbul, the new attacks sent waves of fear and confusion across the city. The blasts were heard in distant parts of the sprawling metropolis.
The plume of smoke from the HSBC explosion was visible for miles, and the blast at the consulate blew out windows for blocks around the neighborhood of narrow streets and shops and restaurants.
“I heard the explosion, and glass started to rain down on my head,” said Nuri Atar, who owns a restaurant near the consulate. “I ran into a market for protection. I am so afraid no one will want to come to our neighborhood again. Our future looks weak.”
The Istanbul Stock Exchange closed after the explosions, and business leaders expressed concern about the impact on tourism and foreign investment.
Touring the Beyoglu area on foot, wearing a suit and a protective helmet, Istanbul Mayor Ali Mufit Gurtuna said security had been stepped up across the city after the synagogue bombings.
“Istanbul is a safe city, it has always been a safe city,” he said. “Just check the Interpol statistics. But this is terrorism, what can you do?”
Symbolic targets
Many people said the targets of the attacks–the Jewish community, the British, big business–were symbolically important.
“In the minds of these people, Turkey has been contaminated,” said Soli Ozel, a political scientist at Bilgi University. “It stands for everything that Al Qaeda, or a group of its ilk, opposes.”
