Reports out of Turkey said the attack was carried out by a foreigner who was a member of the Islamic State terror group that has embedded itself in Syria and Iraq.
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Based on what had been identified, the ISIS bomber was believed to be a Syrian born in 1998.
Out of the 10 victims of the Turkey attack, eight were confirmed as German tourists, but officials are yet to verify if any Britons were injured or killed. It’s unclear whether there was a link with the Istanbul bombing.
The explosion went off by the Obelisk of Theodosius, a monument from ancient Egypt that was re-erected by the Roman Emperor Theodosius and is one of the city’s most iconic landmarks.
Turkey’s Dogan News Agency said Wednesday that police seized documents and CDs during a search of the premises where the suspects were staying, Reuters reported.
Norway’s foreign ministry said one Norweigan man was injured and was being treated in hospital.
There is also ongoing fighting with Kurdish militants. It hasn’t taken a direct combat role, however.
Istanbul is one of the world’s most-visited cities and tourism accounts for around 12pc of Turkey’s GDP, raising fears the attack could bring serious economic repercussions.
The country is also dealing with more than 2 million Syrian refugees and a wave of migrants from Syria and other countries pouring across Turkey to Europe.
But it was the first time any recent attacks specifically targeted tourists in Turkey, whose tourism industry is a key component of the economy. Police say they are taking precautions against a second explosion, and an anonymous official said terrorist links are suspected.
The Sultanahmet neighborhood is Istanbul’s main sightseeing area and includes the Topkapi Palace and the Haghia Sophia museum.
“Ambulances started rushing in and I knew it was a bomb right away because the same thing happened here previous year”, said Ali Ibrahim Peltek, 40, who runs a kiosk on the square. “Buildings rattled from the force of the explosion”.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet DavutoÄlu says those responsible will be punished.
The Hurriyet daily said Turkey’s spy agency had twice issued warnings over the risk of a suicide attack in Istanbul.
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A suicide bomber detonated a bomb in the heart of Istanbul’s historic district on Tuesday morning, killing 10 foreigners ¿ a lot of them German tourists ¿ and wounding a number of other people in the latest in a string of attacks by Islamic extremists targeting Westerners. Islamic State jihadists are blamed for the attack.
