ISTANBUL, 4 December 2003 — Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said yesterday neighbors Iran and Syria were cooperating in the fight against terrorism as Turkey looked for key suspects who fled abroad after recent suicide bombings in Istanbul.
The remarks by Gul come amid increasing signs that Al-Qaeda may be behind the attacks that killed 61 people.
“There are still people being sought,” Gul said in an interview aired yesterday by NTV television. “There are names who went abroad, there are some important names.”
Syria on Sunday extradited 22 people to Turkey as part of the investigation.
Turkish newspapers have identified two of the main suspects in the Nov. 15 attacks on two synagogues and on the British Consulate and a British bank five days later as Habib Aktas and Azad Ekinci. Both have reportedly slipped abroad.
Turkish newspapers Hurriyet, Milliyet and Zaman have reported that the two men met with Osama Bin Laden’s top lieutenant, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, several times. Police have refused to comment on those reports.
Twenty of those extradited by Syria have since been released. Two other suspects — a husband and wife — are being held in Ankara. The man, identified as Hilmi Tugluoglu, reportedly met with Ekinci several times and had reportedly traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Yesterday, a prosecutor at a state security court, which deals with terrorism cases, questioned the wife of the suicide bomber at the British Consulate and another woman in Istanbul in connection with the Nov. 20 attacks, the semiofficial Anatolia news agency reported. Both were later released.
Turkish authorities last week caught a key suspect as he tried to slip into Iran using a fake ID. The man allegedly gave the final go-ahead for the synagogue attacks.
“Both Iran and Syria, at least recently, have been cooperating with Turkey on the issue of terrorism. We hope this continues,” Gul said.
At a press conference yesterday, Gul added: “Right now our neighbors are showing cooperation in the fight against terrorism that we hadn’t seen in past years. We’re pleased about that.”
Syrian-Turkish ties have improved sharply since the late 1990s, when Turkey threatened military action against Syria over its hosting of Turkish Kurd rebels.
Turkey has accused Iran of fueling radical groups in Turkey. The United States has previously accused both Iran and Syria of sponsoring terrorists.
Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, yesterday held talks with top Turkish military officers that were expected to focus on terrorism, cooperation in Iraq, and other issues, said a US official.
Turkey’s Justice Minister Cemil Cicek is also holding high-level talks in Washington focusing on terrorism. Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener confirmed this week that the government suspects Al-Qaeda involvement in the attacks.
At least three claims of responsibility for the bombings purportedly came from Al-Qaeda. More than 130 people have been detained so far in connection with the bombings and 25 people have been charged, most with aiding or membership in an illegal organization.
