Turkey vows revenge for attack
Seven police officials, four citizens die in latest Istanbul bomb blast
A CAR bomb ripped through a police bus near Istanbul’s historic centre yesterday, killing seven officers and four civilians in the latest attack in Turkey’s biggest city.
The blast had targeted a shuttle service carrying antiriot police in the Beyazit district, close to many of the city’s top tourist sites, Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin said on Turkish television.
Thirty-six people had been wounded, three seriously, he said.
There was no early claim of responsibility, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) had been behind the attack.
For the PKK to target major cities such as Istanbul was nothing new, he said after visiting the injured in hospital.
“We will fight against terrorists relentlessly to the end.”
In a statement later, Erdogan also vowed the culprits would “pay in kind the price for the bloodshed”.
Kurdish militants have repeatedly targeted Turkey’s security forces, but Islamic State (IS) jihadists have also staged several attacks in Turkish cities in the past year.
Reports said the explosion had taken place close to the Vezneciler metro station, within walking distance of some of the city’s main tourist sites, including the famed Suleymaniye Mosque.
The metro station was closed as a safety precaution.
The blast reduced the police vehicle to mangled wreckage and windows in nearby shops were shattered.
Reports said that shots had been heard afterwards.
The attack occurred opposite an upmarket hotel favoured by foreign tourists, the Celal Aga Konagi Hotel, a converted Ottoman mansion.
The 16th-century Sehzade Mosque -- considered one of the greatest masterpieces of Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan -- was also damaged by the force of the explosion.
Television footage showed its windows blown out and debris littering the floor.
Loudspeakers on mosques warned people to vacate the area, after which a controlled explosion was carried out on a suspect vehicle.
French President Francois Hollande condemned the attack as an intolerable act of violence that should strengthen common resolve to fight terrorism.
US Ambassador to Ankara John Bass said in a Twitter message: “Such senseless violence could never be rationalised by any cause.”
The bombing occurred on the second day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
