Bush says Turkey new front in 'war on terror'

10.30am

ISTANBUL - US President George W. Bush said on Friday Turkey had become a battleground in the "war on terror" as police made their first arrests in deadly truck bomb attacks on British targets in Istanbul.

The United States joined Britain in warning its citizens to defer non-essential travel to Turkey over fears of further terror attacks in the country of 70 million following four suicide bombings in the commercial capital in six days.

A statement purporting to come from a unit of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network said it carried out Thursday's twin strikes on the British consulate and the London-based HSBC bank which killed 27 people and wounded more than 400.

Five days earlier 25 people were killed in similar suicide attacks on Istanbul synagogues, making this the worst week of peacetime violence in Turkey's modern history.

"Terrorists have decided to use Turkey as a front," Bush, on a visit to Britain, told reporters. "Two major explosions. Iraq is a front. Turkey is a front. Anywhere the terrorists think they can strike is a front."

Bush also called Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to pledge solidarity with Turkey, a key Nato ally promoted by Washington as a model of Islamic democracy.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said some people had been arrested in Thursday's attacks, without giving details.

The Turkish daily Hurriyet said seven people had been arrested in the strikes, which it said were carried out by Turkish suicide bombers. A spokesman at the Istanbul governor's incident room could not confirm the report.

Many Turks were among the 27 dead, who also included British Consul General Roger Short. Some 24 hours later the mood on the streets of the normally vibrant city was sombre.

"Istiklal (Istanbul's main pedestrian thoroughfare) is as crowded as ever today, but there is fear now. People are expecting another explosion could occur at any time," said Ahmet Kerim, 30, whose family gift shop lost its windows in the blast.

Turkey's National Security Council, an advisory body grouping political leaders and influential military commanders, issued a statement on Friday evening after more than five hours of talks.

"International terror will not achieve its aim because our nation and our state are determined to overcome it," said the statement, which also urged global unity against terrorism.

Trade unions announced a series of "peace protests" in major Turkish cities on Saturday to express revulsion at the blasts, which have dented the image of this European Union candidate on the road to recovery from a 2001 financial crisis.

Expatriates, who are numbered in their thousands in the key financial city bordering Europe and Asia, sounded defiant.

"This is not a September 11 attack. This can happen in Nigeria, America or even Germany," said German Christian Johannes, 33, a partner in a firm working in the energy sector.

HSBC Holdings Plc, Britain's biggest company, said it had resumed service in Turkey despite the blasts. HSBC Bank has about 160 branches in the country.

The HSBC headquarters stood in Istanbul's affluent Levent district, which is dotted with skyscrapers hosting many leading Turkish banks and industrial groups as well as foreign firms.

"This is the heart of the Turkish economy. It is our Wall Street," said banker Hikmet, 32, standing at a police barricade and straining to see the damage inflicted on HSBC by the blast.

A statement apparently from a unit of al Qaeda, the Abu Hafz al-Masri Brigades, and published on the Islamist website Al Mujahidoun, said it had carried out the latest attacks. It could not be independently authenticated.

The Abu Hafz claim, in Arabic, said Turkey was targeted because of its membership in the "crusader" Nato alliance and its ties with the "Zionist entity" Israel.

A Turkish group called the Islamic Great Eastern Raiders Front (IBDA-C) has also claimed joint responsibility with al Qaeda for all four Istanbul attacks and warned the network was planning more strikes against the United States and its allies.

Both groups earlier claimed responsibility for the synagogue attacks last Saturday.

Thursday's double strike shocked world markets. Turkish financial markets held their nerve on Friday, with the lira ending slightly firmer though the stock market remained shut. European and US shares recovered some ground.

- REUTERS