At least 10 people have been killed and 15 others wounded in an explosion that hit Istanbul’s historic Sultanahmet Square on Tuesday, which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed on a Syrian suicide bomber.
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The square sits next to the most popular tourist sites in the city, including the 6th century Greek Orthodox church, the centuries-old Sultan Ahmet mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque, and the Roman-era Basilica Cistern, an ancient underground water depot.
Hurriyet said the German group had on Monday evening checked in a boutique hotel in Galata district on the other side of the Golden Horn from Sultanahmet.
“Our government supports the Turkish government’s efforts to eradicate terror and will continue to join the global community’s relevant efforts”, the Foreign Ministry said.
Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member and one of the nations in the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS, has frequently been targeted by the terror group, who operate in the neighboring countries of Syria and Iraq.
Another six alleged recruits were held in Izmir on the Aegean – where police reportedly seized guns – while four suspected sympathisers were picked up in central Turkey.
The Istanbul governor’s office said the authorities were investigating the type of explosive used and who might have been responsible.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Wednesday travel advice will be adjusted “when we know more about the background to the crime, particularly the background of the perpetrator” and what his motive was.
Ambulances ferried away the wounded as police cordoned off streets.
She added: “We shook a lot”.
Davutoglu immediately convened a security meeting with the country’s interior minister and other officials.
Security officials said there was a high probability IS militants were responsible.
The explosion was powerful enough to be heard in adjacent neighbourhoods, witnesses told AFP.
President Erdogan has blamed a “suicide bomber of Syrian origin”, and despite the speculations of the bomber being part of ISIS, no group came forward with their responsibility to the attack till now.
Eyewitness Murat Manaz said: “It was a suicide bomb”.
The PKK has, however, generally avoided attacking civilian targets in urban centres outside the southeast in recent years.
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“Turkey won’t backtrack in its struggle against Daesh by even one step”, Davutoglu said, referring to ISIL by its Arabic acronym.
