Suicide Bomber Detonates In Central Istanbul Square: At Least 10 Dead
From the time AKP lost its absolute majority in parliament in June of last year, Turkey has been a hotbed for violence.
A suicide bomber killed more than two dozen people in Suruc the month after the elections, setting the stage for six months of turmoil including a deadly blast in Ankara that left more than 100 dead in October. Some have suggested the Erdogan regime staged the attacks in an effort to show Turks why a “strong” AKP government is necessary to keep the "peace".
On Tuesday we get the latest tragedy out of Turkey as at least 10 are dead in a suicide attack on Istanbul. The explosion rocked Sultanahmet Square outside the city’s Blue Mosque injuring 15 in addition to those killed.
“Police immediately shut down the site of the blast as graphic images emerged on social media of bodies in the main plaza in Istanbul’s old town, which is surrounded by the Ottoman-era Topkapi palace, the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, a sixth century church that is now a museum,” WSJ reports, adding that “the Turkish government quickly imposed a blanket media ban on coverage of the incident as investigators scoured the scene for evidence.”
Sultanahmet'te Gerçekle?en Patlama ?le ?lgili ?lk Aç?klama
https://t.co/urbfVC5ApY pic.twitter.com/O2PyV5vVuH
— TGB Ankara (@TGBAnkara) January 12, 2016
Sultanahmet'teki patlama sonras? bir polis arac?... Allah esirgesin
https://t.co/2XYTOMxoBR pic.twitter.com/4sZc075i0J
— Faruk (@farukonalan) January 12, 2016
#BREAKING: #News #Deadly #Explosion hits "the heart" of #Istanbul: https://t.co/fHjGBLWYWC
— AlwaysActions (@AlwaysActions) January 12, 2016
Here's Reuters with more:
An explosion in the heart of Istanbul's historic Sultanahmet tourist district killed at least ten people and wounded 15 on Tuesday and some local media reports said a suicide bomber may have been responsible.
Several bodies lay on the ground in the Sultanahmet square, close to the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, a major tourist area of Turkey's most populous city. A police officer and witness at the scene reported also seeing several bodies and body parts.
Tourists from Germany and Norway were among the wounded, broadcaster CNN Turk said. An official from one tour company told Reuters a group from Germany was in the area at the time but said there was no immediate information on whether any of them had been injured.
The attack at the heart of one of the world's most visited cities comes as Turkey battles Kurdish militants in its southeast and Islamic State insurgents just across its southern borders in Syria and Iraq.
"We heard a loud sound and I looked at the sky to see if it was raining because I thought it was thunder but the sky was clear," a Kuwaiti tourist said. "The explosion was very loud. We shook a lot. We ran out and saw body parts," a local shop owner added.
"Ambulances started rushing in and I knew it was a bomb right away because the same thing happened here last year," a kiosk owner who sells snacks and drinks on the square remarked, referencing an explosion that rocked a police station for tourists a little over a year ago. "This is not good for Turkey but everyone was expecting a terrorist attack," the man adds, flatly.
There are some indications that German citizens were targeted in the blast. The bomber was "of Syrian-origin" President Erdogan says. Expect the anti-refugee movement in Germany to promptly trot this out as further evidence of why Angela Merkel should do away with the open-door policy for asylum seekers. We can almost see the signs now: "we give them asylum and they kill our tourists."
"Tourism revenues of $34 billion in 2014 accounted for about 4 percent of the country’s gross domestic product [while] Istanbul is the fifth-most visited city in the world," Bloomberg notes. "Following the blast, Germany’s Foreign Ministry issued an advisory for visitors to Turkey, saying they should avoid crowded areas including public squares near tourist attractions."
Here's a timeline from Hurriyet:
1:30 p.m. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Sultanahment explosion was a suicide attack of Syrian origin
1:25 p.m. Hour-long security meeting chaired by PM Davuto?lu has ended
1:15 p.m. Former Turkish President Abdullah Gül expressed his condolences to the families of the attack’s victims and urged unity against terror.
“Our citizens should support the government and the state in all related manners and act in accordance to its demands,” Gül has told reporters
1: 10 p.m. Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-leader Selahattin Demirta? extended condolence to families of the victims who lost their lives in the blast which he called a “brutal massacre.”
“We condemn the massacre in Sultanahmet. We will not stop following [the blast] so as not to let it be left in the dark and to reveal the ones responsible,” Demirta? said, while addressing a parliamentary group meeting of his party.
1:00 p.m. Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesperson Ömer Çelik has posted a tweet condemning the “vile” attack in Sultanahmet.
“May God rest the victims’ souls,” the tweet said, while wishing a quick recovery to all those wounded in the explosion.
12.50 Security authorities believe an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant-linked suicide bomber was behind the explosion in Sultanahmet, daily Hürriyet has reported.
Authorities are focusing on ISIL links because tourists and civilians were targeted in a touristic area.
12.21 Security meeting to be held at Çankaya Palace under the chairmanship of PM Davuto?lu.
According to sources from the Prime Ministry, Deputy PM Numan Kurtulmu?, Interior Minister Efkan Ala, Health Minister Mehmet Müezzino?lu, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlio?lu, National Intelligency Organization (M?T) Undersecretary Hakan Fidan and Director General of Public Security Celalettin Lekesiz will attend the meeting.
12.16 Six German citizens, one Norwegian and one Peruvian were among the three wounded people rushed to the Haseki Hospital, Do?an News Agency has reported.
Meanwhile, two people who were lightly wounded in the explosion were hospitalized at Bezmialem Vak?f University Hospital.
12.15 Interior Minister Efkan Ala briefs Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu for half an hour at the Prime Ministry residence. Davuto?lu has moved on to Çankaya Palace, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.
11. 50 The official Twitter account of the British Ambassador to Turkey posted a tweet expressing "concern" at reports of the Sultanahmet explosion.
"In touch with Turkish authorities. Thoughts with those injured. Nationalities of victims currently unknown," the tweet said.
11:44 The official twitter account of the United States Embassy in Ankara posted a tweet quoting U.S. Ambassador John Bass saying the U.S. is "closely following reports" on the explosion.
"Our thoughts are with those affected," the tweet said.
(2 votes)
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I was hoping it was McCain's.
Questions Bloomberg and CNBC dare not ask:
1) Why will any white person ever take another vacation to a Muslim destination?
2) What is the impact on global tourism from the answer to 1)?
Because Germans can't get enough of Muslims even if they stay at home.
They must be rape tourists. They like their kinky.
I kind of doubt that there were enough pieces of the suicide bomber left so as to identify any Syrian origin.
The other problem with any 'origin' is whether the bomber was really backed by CIA, Turkey (anti Erdogan), Turkey (pro Erdogan), ISIS, Iran, Russia, Kurd, or Saudi - and whether it was real terror or false flags.
"Our sheeple should support the government and the state in all related manners and act according to IT'S demands,” Gül has told reporters". baaahh, baaaahh........
Tourists visiting Turkey in today's geopolitical theater?? Amazing...
Take a page out of the Fort Hood playbook and declare it workplace violence instead of terrorism so you can stiff the victims on government benefits.
They really interviewed the owner of a snackbar?
It was Allah's Snackbar
The snackbar owner said this was no laughing matter despite there being Snickers all around
Syria bomber suspected for the blast FUCK THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA.can't trust them.
Now the strategy of the west seem to black mail Asad and Russians for hunger Syrians children and in killing their citizens.
After creating and supporting I$I$ and now Russia,Syria and Iraq are kicking them out and Turkeys Erdogan blew the game big-time...Russia exposing who are the Supporters of the terrorist ,the west busted
and
Some fireworks in Turkey are not only expected but inevitable.Those I$I$ will either fled to Europe, Libya, Saudi ,Israel,Yemen or Egypt. which is easy for them is straight forward.
I wish they got balls and blew some stuff in their puppet master countries, like Israel,UK,Saudi ,US,Turkey and Qatar.
But we all know such thing isn't gonna happen in the eyez of MOSAD and those secret service in the frenzy.
Nevertheless i am pretty expecting something will gonna get out of control and these perpetrator of the ME will get their hands, 'Those chickens come home to roast'
Untill then, Erdogan might have order some flares to buy time and as usuall PKK will be blamed.
9/11s... 9/11... Everywhere! And not a moment of silence or peace to be found!...
I guess the looming question to raise at this point?....
How many more of them do we get?... And when is the finale to this "roadshow"!!!...
In this age of endless war, there is no finale.
Peace is un-profitable.
Keeping track of the U.S. and it's invaluable efforts of creating mass genocide whenever and wherever it sees fit as the indispensible Land of Freedom and Opportunity for itself and it's partner(s) in crime that it represents!
http://www.globalresearch.ca/u-s-dropped-23144-bombs-on-muslim-countries...
Turkey doesn't support ISIS, or any other terrorist organisation. I read it in the New York Times and heard it on the BBC. Any narrative contrary to the official line of any of these two news agencies, must be a lie. 45 years of brainwashing has programmed me to think this way. Was that a Freudian slip?
Untiil an immaculate Passport is found , I will NOT believe anything at all./s
I will be surprised if Edge doesn't blame the Kurds for this. We all know that ISIS was created and funded by my country and the evil EU. Any European that supports the EU is a traitor to their country and to Europe. I'm talking about you Ghordius, you facist chimp.
FUKC U TURKEY. GO DIE
Asuras
u Abrahmic religions
will destroy each other
because ur gawd wants blood & burning flesh