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Turkey: over a dozen feared dead after Istanbul blasts Turkey: over a dozen dead after two blasts in Istanbul
(about 1 hour later)
A suspected car bomb outside a major soccer stadium in Istanbul has left more than a dozen people dead according to security sources in the Turkey. Two explosions, one thought to have been a suicide bomb, killed 13 people outside a soccer stadium in Istanbul on Saturday, security sources said, in an attack that appeared to target police hours after a match between two of Turkey’s top teams.
Witnesses said more police were deployed and had cordoned off the area as smoke rose from the newly built Beșiktaș stadium. They said gunfire had also been heard in what appeared to have been an armed attack on police. Interior minister Suleyman Soylu described the blasts outside the Vodafone Arena, home to Istanbul’s Besiktas soccer team, as a “cruel plot”. One of the explosions was directly outside the stadium, while the suspected suicide bomber struck in the adjacent Macka park, he told reporters.
Broadcaster NTV said 38 people had been wounded but gave no details of any death toll and said the explosion seemed to have targeted a police vehicle that was leaving the stadium after fans had dispersed. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Islamic State, Kurdish and far-left militants have all carried out bomb attacks in recent years. The Nato member is part of the US-led coalition fighting Isis in Syria and is battling an insurgency by Kurdish militants in the south-east of the country.
Another explosion was thought to have been caused by a suicide bomber, Turkish interior minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters in comments broadcast live on television. Three separate security sources said at least 13 people had been killed but there was no official confirmation of this. Soylu said he would make a statement on the death toll later. He had earlier said that around 20 people were wounded and that initial indications were that a car bomb targeting a police bus was responsible for one of the blasts.
The suspected suicide bomber struck in Macka park, next to the Vodafone Arena, home to Istanbul’s Besiktas soccer team, while the second explosion hit directly outside the stadium, Soylu said, describing the attack as a “cruel plot”. “It was like hell. The flames went all the way up to the sky. I was drinking tea at the cafe next to the mosque,” said Omer Yilmaz, who works as a cleaner at the nearby Dolmabahce mosque, directly across the road from the stadium.
Speaking earlier, Soylu, said the wounded were police officers. “It is thought to be a car bomb at a point where our special forces police were located, right after the match at the exit where Bursaspor fans exited, after the fans had left,” he said. “People ducked under the tables, women began crying. Football fans drinking tea at the cafe sought shelter. It was horrible,” he told Reuters.
Prime minister Binali Yıldırım and Istanbul governor Vasip Şahin had been notified, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said. A Reuters photographer said many riot police officers were seriously wounded. Armed police sealed off streets. A police water cannon doused the wreckage of a burned-out car and there were two separate fires on the road outside the stadium.
Two witnesses told Reuters they had heard two blasts outside the Vodafone Arena, which lies on the edge of the Bosphorus in central Istanbul and is home to the Beşiktaş soccer team. A Reuters photographer said many riot police officers were seriously wounded. Broadcaster NTV said one of the explosions had targeted a police vehicle that was leaving the stadium after fans had already dispersed. It said 38 people had been wounded.
“It was like hell. The flames went all the way up to the sky. I was drinking tea at the cafe next to the mosque,” said Omer Yilmiz, who works as a cleaner at the nearby Dolmabahçe mosque. “People ducked under the tables, women began crying. Football fans drinking tea at the cafe sought shelter. It was horrible.” Turkish soccer team Bursaspor, which finished a match against Beşiktaş attended by thousands of people two hours before the blasts, said none of its fans appeared to have been injured. It and Beşiktaş both said they condemned the attacks. “Those attacking our nation’s unity and solidarity will never win,” sports minister Akif Cagatay Kilic said on Twitter.
Armed police sealed off streets around the stadium. A police water cannon doused the wreckage of a burnt-out car and there were two separate fires on the road outside the building. Images broadcast on television showed more than a dozen ambulances on a street hugging the stadium and a police helicopter flying overhead with its search lights on. Turkey’s transport minister, Ahmet Arslan, also writing on Twitter, described it as a terrorist attack.
Turkish soccer team Bursaspor said none of its fans appeared to have been injured in the explosion. “We have contacted our fan groups. There appear to be no injuries among our fans. We wish injured citizens a quick recovery,” Bursaspor said in a statement on its Twitter account. “I condemn the terror attack on Beşiktaş, Istanbul, and wish all those injured a speedy recovery,” he wrote.
In a tweet, Turkey’s transport minister, Ahmet Arslan, referred to the bombing as a terrorist attack. President Tayyip Erdogan, who was in Istanbul at the time of the explosions, had been in contact with the chief of Istanbul police and the prime minister and was following developments closely, sources in his office said.
“I condemn the terror attack on Besiktas, Istanbul, and wish all those injured a speedy recovery,” he wrote.
The US consulate in Istanbul issued a tweet urging people to avoid the area.The US consulate in Istanbul issued a tweet urging people to avoid the area.
(3/3) Please avoid the area, monitor local press reporting, and let friends and family know you are OK.(3/3) Please avoid the area, monitor local press reporting, and let friends and family know you are OK.
Authorities announced that six prosecutors have been ordered to investigate the attack. The country’s Radio and Television Supreme Council, meanwhile, placed a gagging order on reporting the attack.
Turkey has been hit by a series of bombings in recent years, some blamed on Islamic State militants, others claimed by Kurdish and far-leftist militant groups.Turkey has been hit by a series of bombings in recent years, some blamed on Islamic State militants, others claimed by Kurdish and far-leftist militant groups.
There was mounting speculation, less than an hour after the explosions, that rebels with the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) or an offshoot of the group were behind the attack. In June, around 45 people were killed and hundreds wounded when three suspected Isis militants carried out a gun and bomb attack on Istanbul’s Ataturk airport.There was growing speculation, less than an hour after the explosions, that rebels with the Kurdish Workers’ party (PKK) or an offshoot of the group were behind the attack.
The organisation has been calling for an independent Kurdish state within Turkey since the late 1970s and in recent months, following the botched coup against president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July and the crackdown that ensued, has stepped up targeted assaults against police.The organisation has been calling for an independent Kurdish state within Turkey since the late 1970s and in recent months, following the botched coup against president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July and the crackdown that ensued, has stepped up targeted assaults against police.
Erdal Güven, editor in chief of Diken an independent news portal based in Istanbul, said the brazen attack bore all the hallmarks of the group. “Early suspicions would fall on the PKK or an affiliated organisation, TAK, which always targets the police and has been behind similar bombings in Ankara,” he told the Guardian. “The other suspect, ISIS, attacks indiscriminately. It doesn’t care if civilians are killed as well. This seems to have been specifically aimed at the police.” Erdal Güven, editor in chief of Diken, an independent news portal based in Istanbul, said the brazen attack bore all the hallmarks of the group. “Early suspicions would fall on the PKK or an affiliated organisation, TAK, which always targets the police and has been behind similar bombings in Ankara,” he told the Guardian. “The other suspect, Isis, attacks indiscriminately. It doesn’t care if civilians are killed as well. This seems to have been specifically aimed at the police.”