TERROR BOMBINGS CONTINUE IN TURKEY
27 Dead As Islamic Terror Strikes Western Targets

Rescuers, forensics work at the debris of the British Consulate's garden after today's terror attack in Turkey. Explosions hit the London-based HSBC bank and the British consulate. The blasts came days after the city was hit by two synagogue bombings.

UPDATE ---- ISTANBUL, Turkey ----November 20..... Suicide truck bombs exploded at a London-based bank and the British consulate Thursday, murdering at least 27 people and wounding nearly 450. The worst terrorist bombings in Turkey's history coincided with President Bush 's trip to Britain and were blamed on al-Qaida.

Security forces were put on highest alert after the attacks at the high-rise headquarters of the HSBC bank and the British consulate occurred five minutes apart at about 11 a.m.

Among the dead was British Consul-General Roger Short, London's highest-ranking diplomat in Istanbul, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said.

The blasts followed two synagogue bombings Saturday — also blamed on al-Qaida — that killed 23 people, plus the two bombers.

Israel's Ambassador to Turkey Pinhas Avivi said all Israeli diplomatic staff were safe. "We were not the target this time." The Israeli consulate is located within 500 meters of one of the sites of the explosions.

The Israeli foreign ministry has established a "situation room", which can be reached at: 02-530-3155.

HSBC Bank, the world's second-largest bank, released a statement saying that "with deep regret we have to confirm that there have been fatalities amongst the Bank's staff."

Sixteen bodies were found at the site of the British Consul, while 10 others were killed at HSBC.

Bush, at a news conference with Prime Minister Tony Blair, said Thursday's bombings showed terrorists' "utter contempt for innocent life." "The terrorists hope to intimidate. They hope to demoralize. They particularly want to intimidate and demoralize the free nations. They're not going to succeed," Bush said.

British Ambassador to Israel Simon Macdonald said Thursday night that the British Foreign Office had issued him with new security instructions following today's attack on British targets in Istanbul and that he and his family will remain in Israel.

Asked whether he could draw any parallels between al-Qaida and Palestinian terror groups, Macdonald said he drew no distinctions between terrorist acts. "Terrorist acts are terrorist acts," the Ambassador said. "Al-Qaida is completely destructive. Hamas has a political side to their agenda, but when they resort to terrorism they must be treated as terrorists.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who was scheduled to arrive in Istanbul on Thursday evening, described the attacks as "clearly appalling acts of terrorism" and suggested a link to the al-Qaida network. "I'm afraid it has all the hallmarks of international terrorism practiced by al-Qaida," he said in London.

A man calling the Anatolia news agency said that al-Qaida and the Islamic Great Eastern Raiders' Front, or IBDA-C, jointly claimed responsibility for the terror attacks.

In Washington, however, a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the United States was not yet willing to put the blame directly on al-Qaida. Although al-Qaida involvement was still a possibility, it could be the work of groups that share a similar philosophy. Attorney General John Ashcroft, asked if the United States believes al-Qaida was behind the Istanbul bombings, said "they appear to be in the method of operation, or in the operational style, of al-Qaida or al-Qaida operatives or affiliates."

At least 27 people were killed and nearly 450 wounded by the suicide bombers, Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said. Four of the injured were in critical condition and 15 others were undergoing surgery, Istanbul health officials said.

It was the worst single-day toll from terrorism in Turkey since 1977, when gunmen opened fire on leftists celebrating May Day, killing 37 people.

Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to defeat the terrorists and deplored their attack during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

"Those who bloodied this holy day and massacred innocent people will account for it in both worlds," he said. "They will be damned until eternity."

At about the same time Thursday in Iraq, a deadly truck bomb exploded in front of a U.S.-backed Kurdish political party in the northern city of Kirkuk. Officials pointed to an al-Qaida-linked militant group, Ansar al-Islam, as being behind that blast. The first Istanbul blast struck the Turkish headquarters of HSBC, the world's second-largest bank, shearing off the facade of the 18-story building and shattering the windows of nearby high-rises.

Body parts, the charred shells of cars and broken glass were scattered around a 9-foot-deep crater in the streets outside the bank. Water gushed from the top floors of the building. Bystanders bloodied and covered in dust looked dazed as they walked past lines of ambulances. Several people helped carry the limp bodies of victims.

The second bomb, detonated about five minutes later and five miles away, ripped off the wall surrounding the garden of the British consulate in the Beyoglu district downtown.

Turkish army troops appeared briefly on the streets in Istanbul — on a major highway and standing guard beside police. Military ambulances were also seen. At least a dozen Turkish soldiers, wearing helmets and camouflage uniforms and armed with G-3 assault rifles, stood by their jeeps near the HSBC headquarters. Troops later were withdrawn.

TV reports initially said there were up to five blasts, but authorities later confirmed only two.

Straw said three or four British employees from the consulate had not reported to a roll call after the blasts.

Short was killed immediately by the blast, consulate chaplain Ian Sherwood told the British Broadcasting Corp. "Quite a few people have been killed — Turkish staff and some British staff. But I'm not able to say just yet who has been killed, other than the consul general," he added.

Short, 58, served as consul general in Istanbul since 2001, was Britain's ambassador to Bulgaria from 1994-98, and oversaw peace-building efforts in Bosnia-Herzegovina between 1999-2000.

"Once again we are reminded of the evil these terrorists pose to people everywhere and to our way of life," Blair said. "Once again we must affirm that in the face of this terrorism there must be no holding back, no compromise, no hesitation in confronting this menace, in attacking it wherever and whenever we can, and in defeating it utterly."

Blair also reaffirmed Britain's commitment to the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. "On the contrary, it shows how important it is to carry on until terrorism is defeated there as well," he said.

Witnesses described horrific scenes of destruction.

"I thought somebody hit our bus from the back, then I saw black smoke rising," said a sobbing Mehmet Altan, who was on a bus near the bank when the explosion occurred. "Cars were damaged all around us. I saw the charred body of a driver at the wheel," said a sobbing Mehmet Altan.

Mehmet Celik, who was slightly injured, said a light brown pickup truck exploded in front of the HSBC headquarters.

HSBC employee Suleyman Karatas described "a bloodbath" after the explosion, according to the Anatolia news agency, with a number of the 600 bank workers wounded. Near the British consulate, Hakan Kozan said the blast came from a white pickup truck. "I heard a slam on the brakes and 10 seconds later the explosion came," Kozan told The Associated Press.

The consulate is located in a cramped, historic district frequented by tourists with shops, bars, movie theaters and restaurants. The nearby U.S. consulate was moved months ago to a more secure location in another district, and the FBI said it knew of no American deaths or injuries and is not directly investigating the blasts.

Turkey's central bank said it was taking measures to prevent possible financial fallout from the attacks, and would intervene to prevent fluctuations in the currency. Turkey's benchmark index dropped 7.37 percent after the attacks until the stock exchange was closed for trading.

European soccer officials postponed two international soccer matches scheduled for next week in Turkey because of the bombings.

The Istanbul State Security Court imposed a ban on news coverage of attacks, barring media from filming or broadcasting the images of attack sites, interviewing officials or reporting about the investigation. Turkish TV stations continued their broadcasts from the scenes and reported details of the attacks.

The deployment of the Turkish army troops was a significant step, since the military remains a powerful force that leads the secular establishment in this predominantly Muslim country.

It has in the past declared martial law when leftist and rightist militants fought in the streets of the nation's largest cities, claiming up to 20 lives a day. The declaration of martial law preceded a 1980 coup when the military stayed in power three years and cracked down on terrorist groups, putting thousands of militants behind bars.

The military took over three times between 1960-80. The last time the military intervened in politics was in 1997, when they forced out a religious-oriented government without staging a coup.

On Wednesday, authorities arrested six people in connection with the synagogue bombings. The two suicide bombers were identified as Turks. Gul said they had visited Afghanistan and that investigators were pursuing al-Qaida links.

On Sunday, Osama bin Laden 's terror network claimed responsibility for the bombings in messages to two Arabic-language newspapers; it was not possible to authenticate those claims. The Islamic Great Eastern Raiders' Front also claimed responsibility, but Turkish authorities said the attack was too sophisticated for that group.

With the Associated Press

UPDATE----November 17.......Turkish officials investigated claims that the al-Qaida terrorist network was responsible for the truck bombings that devastated two Istanbul synagogues and killed 24 people, the Turkish prime minister said early Monday. A Turkish television report said the driver of one of the bomb-laden trucks was a Turk who had taken bomb training in Iran.

Private television NTV said DNA testing on one suspected driver's remains and the man being questioned indicated they were related — indicating the driver was a Turk. The station, without citing sources, said the driver had traveled six times to Iran for bomb training. He was suspected, along with the other suicide driver, of having links with the al-Qaida terrorist network, NTV said.