Terror rocks Istanbul

Bomb attacks on British Consulate and London-based bank kill at least 27

The British Consulate and the surrounding area are littered with debris after twin explosions in Istanbul, yesterday. Explosions shook the Turkish city, including blasts in front of the HSBC bank in an affluent district and another across from the British Consulate, television stations reported.

By E. Aygin & J.C. Helicke - The Associated Press

ISTANBUL - Truck bombs killed at least 27 people and wounded nearly 450 in attacks on the British Consulate and a London-based bank yesterday — just days after a bloody terrorist strike on Istanbul synagogues. The worst terror bombings in Turkey’s history coincided with President George W. Bush’s trip to Britain and were blamed on Al Qaeda.

Security forces were on the highest alert after the blasts at the high-rise headquarters of the HSBC bank and the British Consulate, which occurred five minutes apart at about 11 a.m. Turkey said suicide bombers carried out the attacks.

British Consul-General Roger Short was among the dead, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said. “He was blown up immediately,” consulate chaplain Ian Sherwood told British Broadcasting Corp. TV.

Witnesses said one pickup truck exploded just outside the HSBC building, while another truck crashed into the gates of the British Consulate.

“The man came, rammed into the gates,” Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu told the Anatolia news agency, describing the consulate bombing. The attacker then “set it off, blowing himself up.”

The vehicle looked like a catering truck, with explosives placed in food cauldrons, Anatolia quoted police as saying.

The blasts followed a pair of synagogue bombings on Saturday that killed 23 people, plus the two bombers. Turkish authorities blamed the attacks on the same groups.

Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed that Turkey will defeat terrorists and he deplored the timing of the attacks, during the Islamic 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.”

Bush, meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, said yesterday’s bombings showed “utter contempt for innocent life.”

“The terrorists hope to intimidate; they hope to demoralize. They are not going to succeed,” Bush said at a news conference with Blair.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was scheduled to arrive in Istanbul later in the day. Earlier, he suggested a link to Al Qaeda.

“I’m afraid it has all the hallmarks of international terrorism practiced by Al Qaeda,” he said in London.

An unidentified caller to the semiofficial Anatolia news agency said Al Qaeda and the militant Islamic Great Eastern Raiders’ Front, or IBDA-C, jointly claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The Turkish central bank said it was taking steps to prevent financial fallout from the attacks, and would intervene to stop fluctuations in the Turkish currency. Turkey’s benchmark index dropped about 7 percent until the stock exchange was closed.

Turkish media said the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers, but the governor’s office said only that attackers blew up explosive-laden pickup trucks.

Turkish army troops made a brief appearance on the streets in Istanbul, deploying on a major highway and standing guard beside police in Istanbul.

The first Istanbul blast was at 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 skyscrapers in the affluent district of Levent.

Body parts, the charred shells of cars and broken glass were scattered around a 9-foot-deep (3-meter-deep) crater in the street outside the bank. Water gushed out of the top floors of the building.

Bystanders, bloodied and covered in dust, looked dazed as they walked past lines of ambulances. Several people helped to carry the limp bodies of victims. Road signs lay on the ground, twisted next to fallen tree trunks.

Another bomb ripped off the wall surrounding the garden of the British Consulate in the downtown Beyoglu district, a popular tourist destination with shops, bars, movie theaters and restaurants. The US Consulate was moved months ago to a more secure location in another district.

Television reports initially spoke of up to five blasts, but Turkish authorities later confirmed only two.

In the synagogue bombings, authorities arrested six people Wednesday. A Turkish court charged five with “attempting to overthrow the constitutional structure,” which carries a sentence of life imprisonment. The sixth was charged with “helping illegal organizations,” punishable by five years in prison, Anatolia said. No trial date was set.