This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/08/world/europe/istanbul-turkey-bomb.html

The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 4 Version 5
Bomb Kills 11 Near Istanbul Tourist Site Bomb in Istanbul Kills 11 Near Tourist District
(about 2 hours later)
ISTANBUL — A car bombing that targeted a police vehicle near a central tourist district in Istanbul on Tuesday instantly killed 11 people and wounded dozens, Turkish officials said, the latest in a series of deadly attacks in the country. ISTANBUL — A car bomb destroyed a police vehicle near a central tourist district in Istanbul on Tuesday, instantly killing 11 people and wounding dozens more, Turkish officials said, the latest in a series of deadly attacks in the country.
Explosives in a parked car were detonated by remote control as a police shuttle bus passed through the historic Beyazit district during rush hour, Governor Vasip Sahin of Istanbul said in a televised statement. Explosives in a parked car were detonated by remote control as a police shuttle bus passed through the historic Beyazit district during rush hour, Gov. Vasip Sahin of Istanbul said in a televised statement.
Seven of the dead were police officers, Mr. Sahin said, and 36 people were wounded. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Istanbul has been on high alert since two suicide attacks this year attributed to the Islamic State. Seven of the dead were police officers, Governor Sahin said. Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, militants from two groups Turkey is currently fighting — the Islamic State and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K. — have staged major suicide attacks in urban areas this year.
“These attacks are against humanity,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters after visiting the wounded at Haseki Hospital in Istanbul. “This is unforgivable. We will continue to fight against these terrorists, tirelessly, without giving up.” Militants from the P.K.K., which has carried out an insurgency against the Turkish state for more than three decades, have claimed responsibility for similar attacks against Turkish security forces since the breakdown of a fragile peace process last July.
The attack on Tuesday occurred close to Istanbul University, the Vezneciler subway station and the historic district, which includes the 16th-century Suleymaniye Mosque.
Video from the scene showed a police shuttle bus flipped on its side with its windows blown out, alongside another police bus with scorch marks and near the wreckage of a charred car. Other damaged vehicles were nearby.
Militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., which has carried out an insurgency against the Turkish state for more than three decades, have claimed responsibility for similar attacks against Turkish security forces since the breakdown last July of a fragile peace process.
A militant group with links to the Kurdish organization claimed responsibility for two major attacks this year in the capital, Ankara, that struck a military convoy and civilians, killing dozens.A militant group with links to the Kurdish organization claimed responsibility for two major attacks this year in the capital, Ankara, that struck a military convoy and civilians, killing dozens.
Violence has surged in the country’s predominately Kurdish southeast in recent months, after a major military operation to eradicate militants from their strongholds in the region. Violence has surged in the country’s predominately Kurdish southeast in recent months, after Turkey undertook a major military operation to eradicate militants from their strongholds in the region.
The Turkish authorities have imposed round-the-clock curfews across several southeastern cities and pounded Kurdish militant targets with tanks and artillery, and they claim to have killed almost 5,000 militants. The Turkish authorities have imposed round-the-clock curfews across several southeastern cities and pounded Kurdish militant targets with tanks and artillery, and they claim to have killed almost 5,000 militants. In the process, they have reduced many Kurdish cities to rubble.
Fears about terrorism have been blamed for the greatest decline in tourism in Turkey since 1999. The Ministry of Tourism announced last month that the number of visitors in April fell 28 percent from a year earlier. Critics of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan say he deliberately short-circuited the peace process with the Kurds last year to stir nationalist sentiments after his ruling Justice and Development Party fared poorly in a first round of parliamentary elections. Premeditated or not, the tactic worked, as the party went on to win in a landslide in November, prompting the president to say the country had voted for stability.
Despite that victory, violence sharply escalated and the P.K.K.’s youth branches, fighting for self-rule, began carrying out increasingly sophisticated attacks in urban areas.
Last month, lawmakers from Mr. Erdogan’s governing party pushed through a contentious amendment to the Turkish Constitution that would strip lawmakers’ immunity. Analysts say the move will lead to the ouster of Kurdish politicians, many of whom could face terrorism charges. Kurdish politicians have warned that their exclusion from Parliament could aggravate tensions in the southeast.
On Tuesday, Mr. Erdogan visited the victims of the Istanbul attack in the hospital, where he vowed to continue to battling terrorism.
“Let me be clear, terrorist organizations distinguishing between civilians, soldiers and police does not mean anything to us. The end target is always human beings,” he told reporters outside the hospital. “Turkey will never abandon its fight against terrorism.”
The attack on Tuesday occurred close to Istanbul University, the Vezneciler subway station and the city’s historic district, which includes the 16th-century Suleymaniye Mosque.
Video from the scene showed a police shuttle bus flipped on its side with its windows blown out, alongside another police bus with scorch marks and near the wreckage of a charred car. Other damaged vehicles littered the street nearby.
Istanbul has been on high alert since two suicide attacks this year that were attributed to the Islamic State. Fears about terrorism have been blamed for the greatest decline in tourism in Turkey since 1999. The Ministry of Tourism announced last month that the number of visitors in April had fallen 28 percent from a year earlier.