DARLINGTON, England – President Bush identified Turkey as a new front in the war on terrorism Friday and offered American assistance to the Turkish prime minister.
On the last day of a state visit to Britain, Bush called Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan and offered his condolences for Thursday’s attack on two British buildings in Istanbul that killed 29 people, only days after synagogue bombings in that city killed 25.
“I told him our prayers are with his people. I told him that we will work with him to defeat terror, and that the terrorists have decided to use Turkey as a front,” Bush said. Asked whether Turkey was a new front, Bush said: “It sure is. Two major explosions. And Iraq is a front, Turkey is a front, anywhere the terrorists think they can strike is a front.”
In Turkey, anti-terrorism police detained more suspects Friday and are now holding about a dozen people in a spate of suicide bombings blamed on al-Qaida. An intelligence report presented to authorities said some Islamic radicals who fought in Chechnya, Afghanistan and Bosnia may have returned to Turkey to work with militant groups.
The Hurriyet newspaper said police were questioning seven people in connection with Thursday’s blasts at the British Consulate in Istanbul and the Turkish headquarters of HSBC bank, which killed 27 people plus the two bombers.
At least three groups or individuals claiming links to al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the attacks, including a small militant Turkish group, the Islamic Great Eastern Raiders’ Front.
Many schools reported Friday that most parents had kept their children home, glitzy Western-style shopping malls were nearly devoid of customers, and residents who ventured along famous Istiklal Street near the British Consulate glanced nervously over their shoulders at the sound of any loud bang.
The attacks came just days after bombings at two Istanbul synagogues killed 23 people in addition to the two suicide bombers. Six people have been arrested in those attacks.
The preliminary investigation into Thursday’s bombing began to show evidence of a connection between the four bombings and a possible link to foreign groups.
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