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 [11], 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 [12] pic.twitter.com/O2PyV5vVuH [13]
— TGB Ankara (@TGBAnkara) January 12, 2016 [14]
Sultanahmet'teki patlama sonras? bir polis arac?... Allah esirgesin
https://t.co/2XYTOMxoBR [15] pic.twitter.com/4sZc075i0J [16]
— Faruk (@farukonalan) January 12, 2016 [17]
#BREAKING [18]: #News [19] #Deadly [20] #Explosion [21] hits "the heart" of #Istanbul [22]: https://t.co/fHjGBLWYWC [23]
— AlwaysActions (@AlwaysActions) January 12, 2016 [25]
Here's Reuters with more [26]:
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 [27]. "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 [28]:
1:30 p.m. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan [29] 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 [30] 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 [31] 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 [32] 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 [33] 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.
