Istanbul rocked by bomb attacks

Robert Tait
London Guardian
Sunday, July 28, 2008

Turkey’s political landscape was plunged further into turmoil last night when two bomb blasts rocked a packed pedestrian square in Istanbul, killing at least 17 people and injuring more than 150, in what officials called a “terrorist” attack.

In the deadliest bomb attacks in the country for almost five years, the two explosions detonated within minutes of each other and a few metres apart, set off by devices in rubbish bins in a busy shopping street in Gungoren, a working-class neighbourhood in the west of the city.

The prime minister, Tayyip Erdogan, today cancelled his weekly cabinet meeting in Ankara and traveled to Turkey’s largest city to visit the site of the bombs.

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The blasts underscored the divisions cutting through the country as a power struggle between secularists and the Islamist-leaning government comes to a head.

The ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) faces possible closure by the constitutional court for alleged anti-secularism in a hearing that begins today. Separately, 86 militant secularists were indicted last week for allegedly plotting to unseat the AKP in a violent coup.

The first blast happened at about 10pm local time near a telephone booth, causing a hail of flying glass and debris that left several people dead or wounded.

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