Foreign tourists leave their hotel in the city’s landmark Taksim Square close to the scene of an explosion, on a street, in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, March 19, 2016.
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According to Al-Jarida, Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz sent a special envoy Tuesday to meet with Israel’s security echelon in order to negotiate financial terms concerning weapons sales.
At least 11 Israelis were among the 36 people who were wounded in the blast Saturday.
Ever since first reports of the Istanbul suicide bombing began circulating on social media, the internet has been abuzz with pictures and reports about the incident.
They urge people planning to go there to “exercise caution”.
Four people were killed in the suicide bomb attack.
Turkey’s health minister, Mehmet Muezzinoglu, confirmed that 36 people had been injured and twelve of the wounded were foreign citizens. It is understood two Irish citizens are among the injured.
Sahin said the official building appeared to be the intended target.
A Western diplomatic source said the attacker may also have had tourists in his sights.
A waiter working in a nearby restaurant told AFP how he had heard “a loud explosion”.
He described scenes of “carnage” with “people lying all about”.
A witness told the Reuters news agency they saw police helicopters circling overhead, and television footage showed people running from the scene. He condemned the “inhumane” act and offered his condolences to Turkey.
“How about we not meet outside”, is the thing that numerous were stating to each other in Istanbul, after the suicide shelling in the heart of Ankara not exactly a week back.
Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, vowed that the government’s fight against terror would continue. Thirty-seven people were killed and 125 wounded Sunday in a suicide auto bombing in the capital. Since the collapse of a ceasefire between the Turkish government and the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or PKK, last July, violent clashes between the two groups have escalated. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The Israeli embassy in Ankara and the consulate in Istanbul are following the events, Nahshon said.
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Transportation and Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz reacted angrily to the Turkish political official who was dismissed from her position as a spokesperson for the ruling Islamist-leaning AKP Party for wishing death upon Israelis wounded in Saturday’s suicide bombing in Istanbul. Cavusoglu made the comment at a joint news conference in Istanbul with his Iranian counterpart, who is on an official visit to Turkey.
