ISTANBUL, 21 November 2003 — Terrorists yesterday launched a deadly double strike in the heart of Istanbul, the second in six days, this time targeting British interests in the city. The bomb blasts, an apparent copycat version of last Saturday’s suicide attacks on two of Istanbul’s synagogues, killed at least 27 people and wounded over 450, mostly Turkish bystanders. Trucks carrying bombs smashed into the high-rise headquarters of the HSBC bank and the British consulate. The blasts occurred five minutes apart, at about 11 a.m. local time. The British Foreign Office said that 14 people were killed in the consulate attack, some of them working in the busy street outside. Among the dead was British Consul-General Roger Short, according to the consulate’s chaplain, the Rev. Ian Sherwood. “He was blown up immediately,” Fr. Sherwood told the BBC. Several HSBC staff were reported among the dead in the bank attack.
Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said more than 450 were injured. Those killed in the attack on the consulate including local police and security staff guarding the building. Security had reportedly been stepped following the synagogue attacks. The attack against British-based banking giant HSBC left at least 13 dead. The Istanbul stock exchange closed following the attacks, and stock markets fell across Europe in response to the bombings, with dealers fearing consequences for investments in Turkey.
A caller to Anatolia news agency claimed responsibility on behalf of Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network and a Turkish group known as the Islamic Great Eastern Raiders Front (IBDA-C) and said they were linked to Saturday’s bombings. Turkish officials, however, link the bombings to outside forces.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed revenge afterwards. “Turkey will be like a fist,” he told a televised news conference.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw left London for Istanbul shortly after announcing details of the attack to the British House of Commons. There, he suggested a link to Al-Qaeda. “I’m afraid it has all the hallmarks of international terrorism practiced by Al-Qaeda,” he said.
Turkish media said the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers, but the governor’s office said only that attackers blew up explosive-laden pickup trucks. However, in the case of the British consulate, all the indications are that the security gates were rammed by a truck. In the aftermath, Turkish troops made a brief appearance on the streets in Istanbul, deploying on a major highway and standing guard beside police in Istanbul. The deployment was seen as significant — the military is a powerful force in the secular establishment in this Muslim country.
The first blast was at the Turkish headquarters of HSBC, shearing off the facade of the 18-story building and shattering the windows of nearby skyscrapers in the affluent district of Levent.
Another bomb ripped off the wall surrounding the garden of the British Consulate in the downtown Beyoglu district. The main consulate building had been closed for restoration, and offices had been transferred to buildings by the gates, thereby accounting for the high death toll. Following the attacks, the United States closed its consulate and advised US citizens to stay away from the building. The US Consulate was moved several months ago to a more secure location elsewhere in the city because of fears of a terrorist attack.
