Erdogan questions al-Qaeda role as Istanbul prays for bomb victims (Turkish PM)

Channel News Asia ^ | November23rd, 2003

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Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 23 November 2003 2132 hrs

Erdogan questions al-Qaeda role as Istanbul prays for bomb victims

ISTANBUL : Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan questioned whether the massive Istanbul bombings were the work of the al-Qaeda terror network, as the city's British community joined in solemn prayers for the dead.

"We have some evidence of religious motives," Erdogan said in an interview with BBC television after the attacks on the British consulate and the offices of the HSBC banking group in which 28 people were killed and hundreds injured.


"Is this an al-Qaeda conglomerate... Or is it some other terrorist organisation? We are not 100 percent sure at this point," said Erdogan, who has spoken of his country's shame that the four suicide bombers have been identified as Turkish citizens.

In Istanbul, Victoria Short, the widow of British consul general Roger Short, and their three children joined about 100 mourners at a service in the Anglican Christ Church for the victims of the attacks.

"We will not be defeated by evil," British consulate chaplain Ian Sherwood said as Muslims joined Christians for the service.

At least 10 British and Turkish staff at the consulate were killed in the attack that came just days after similar suicide truck bombs hit two synagogues and killed another 25 people.

Turkey remained on high alert ahead of a major Muslim holiday after the United States issued a worldwide warning that al-Qaeda -- which claimed the attacks along with a shadowy Turkish Islamist movement -- may strike again.

The government has appealed for international help in the fight against terrorism in the wake of the bombings, seen as a deliberate strike by Islamist radicals against mainly Muslim but strictly secular Turkey -- a key US and Israeli ally and fellow member of NATO.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer is to visit the capital Ankara on Monday in "a gesture of solidarity with the Turkish people", his spokesman Walter Lindner said.

Fischer will hold talks with Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul on how to fight extremism and on Turkey's European Union membership bid.

Turkey has been an EU candidate since 1999 but has yet to secure a date to open accession talks, with the EU demanding more progress on key reforms notably involving human rights and treatment of its ethnic Kurdish minority.

Erdogan, whose Islamist-rooted party took power a year ago, reaffirmed Turkey's determination to join the EU, saying: "We don't see it as an address where civilisations clash. We don't see it as a Christian club.

"Once Turkey enters the European Union, the whole attitude of the Islamic world towards the West will change," he told the BBC.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon spoke to Erdogan on Saturday, and an Israeli television station reported that Mossad chief Meir Dagan had visited Turkey after the bombings for talks with security chiefs.

Six victims of the synagogue bombings were Jews and Jewish places of worship remained shut on Saturday for security reasons.

Turkish newspaper Radikal reported Sunday that the intelligence services had had enough information to prevent the attacks or at least minimise casualties, after Erdogan himself acknowledged possible intelligence lapses.

And Radikal joined other newspapers in rounding on Istanbul's police chief who claimed the second attack could have been avoided if not for "irresponsible" reporting about the suspects.

The names and pictures of four suspected suicide bombers were published in Turkish newspapers the day after the synagogue bombings, and details about the suspects and the investigation have continued to trickle out despite a media blackout ordered by the state security court.

The US government on Friday issued a "worldwide caution" that al-Qaeda may stage new attacks on US interests abroad and both the United States and Britain have warned of more attacks on Turkey.

Security has been stepped up around key sites such as embassies, shopping malls and bus stations.

Turkish police arrested a suspected member of a far-left extremist group plotting attacks against the US and German embassies, according to a television report Saturday.

The attacks have shaken Turkey just as it is emerging from a harsh economic recession with the aid of a 16 billion dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund and left many local business owners pessimistic about the future.

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The Islamic Great Eastern Raiders Front, IBDA-C, has also claimed responsibility for some of the recent bombings in Turkey.

The M.O. seems like al Qaeda, though. Could it be both?

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((((((growl)))))

[aristotleman]

It doesn't matter who did it. Speculating about this in public is wrong, I think. When a govenment attempts to blame an attack to a group before real evidence is there, it makes al-Qaida stronger. They wish to be seen as omnipotent and influencial. They shouldn't be allowed that.

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Ooops, should have flagged you all at #2.

[Angelus Errare]

My guess is that al-Qaeda subcontracted the Raiders as an affiliate (or maybe they were an affiliate all along and we just never figured it out), that's been their standard MO these days.

[a_Turk]

>> Speculating about this in public is wrong, I think.

I agree. We still have no real evidence.

That's why we must engage all enemies of our state now, on all fronts, whatever their motivation, since they all want the same thing: the demise of the Turkish state and the violation of her borders.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan questioned whether the massive Istanbul bombings were the work of the al-Qaeda terror network, as the city's British community joined in solemn prayers for the dead.

Now this is someone whose Islamist-rooted party took power a year ago, and according to this article:

Turkish newspaper Radikal reported Sunday that the intelligence services had had enough information to prevent the attacks or at least minimise casualties, after Erdogan himself acknowledged possible intelligence lapses.

And Radikal joined other newspapers in rounding on Istanbul's police chief who claimed the second attack could have been avoided if not for "irresponsible" reporting about the suspects.

I wonder if Erdogan isn't 100% sure that Al-Qaeda is behind these attacks due to his Islamic ties