It has also emerged that the Syrian man suspected of carrying out the suicide mission had registered with a Turkish immigration office last week and was not on any list of known militant suspects.
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On Wednesday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told journalists that police had identified the suicide bomber, but did not supply a name.
Sibel Satiroglu heard a “click”- and immediately sounded the alarm, screaming “Run!” – the moment a suicide bomber detonated his charge – killing 10 and injuring 15 others Tuesday in Istanbul.
Until now, Islamic State had limited its targets in Turkey to Kurdish and leftist nationalist groups that it linked to its enemies across the border in Syria.
The Russian Foreign Ministry in November said the number of Russians that left for Syria to fight for the Islamic State group at 2719. Syrians coming by land or sea to Turkey are now required to obtain visas. He had come to Turkey as an ordinary refugee. “It’s out of control”.
The Foreign Ministry advised Germans after the attack to avoid crowds in public places and outside tourist sites in Istanbul.
A Peruvian national was also injured in the blast.
Kemal Pazarbasi, chief of the Association of Tourist Hotels and Investors in the Turkish western coastal city of Canakkale, also voiced concern in the Dogan report for the year ahead, saying clients were now seeing the country as a “risky destination”.
“Based on what we know from the investigation so far, there are no indications that the attack was explicitly targeting Germans so there can not be a link with our contribution to the fight against worldwide terrorism”, he said.
He said Turkey, which has repeatedly called on foreign intelligence agencies to do more to prevent would-be jihadists from travelling to its shores, had detained 3,318 people for suspected links to Islamic State and other radical groups since Syria’s conflict began.
Efkan Ala said during a news conference with his German counterpart that the suspect was detained late Tuesday. He said Germany stood resolutely by Turkey’s side in the fight against terrorism.
Five people in all have been detained in connection with the Istanbul bombing, while hundreds gathered at the site of the attack on Thursday to lay flowers and hold a moment’s silence.
Hammond said: “Britain will be stepping up its cooperation with Turkey in countering the scourge of ISIL and our efforts to deliver vital humanitarian and other support, inside Syria including to besieged towns”.
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“We have been coming to this area each morning at around the same time this bomb went off and we would have been here at exactly that time yesterday but I slept in”, he said.
