Turks on Wednesday (January 13) were worried by the economic repercussions of a suicide bomb attack that killed at least 10 people, most of them German tourists, in Istanbul’s historic heart on Tuesday (January 13).
All of those killed in Sultanahmet square, near the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia – major tourist sites in the centre of one of the world’s most visited cities – were foreigners, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, blaming the grisly attack on the Islamic State militant group. A senior Turkish official said nine were German, while Peru’s foreign ministry said a Peruvian man also died.
On Wednesday morning, Turkish vendors and shopkeepers lamented the death of tourists and voiced concern over its prospective repercussions.
“Of course this will affect tourism. They come to visit our country and ten people dies. Would you like to come to this city again if it were you?” a street vendor Huseyin Unal said.
Shopkeeper Ercan Bingol criticized Turkish authorities for a perceived lack of security at the country’s borders that allowed the suicide bomber, believed to be of Syrian origin, into the country.
“We wish this attack wouldn’t happen. This will affect our income. But Turkey became this country where anyone can come. All kind of people come here without even having visa.” he said
Turkish authorities said the bomber was believed to have recently entered Turkey from Syria but was not on Turkey’s watch list of suspected militants. He said earlier that the bomber had been identified from body parts at the scene and was thought to be a Syrian born in 1988.
Haberturk newspaper reported the man was identified as Nabil Fadli and published a photo of the man taken on January 5.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said he had spoken by phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to offer condolences and vowed Turkey’s fight against Islamic State, at home and as part of the U.S.-led coalition, would continue.
Merkel similarly vowed no respite in the fight against international terrorism, telling a news conference in Berlin: “The terrorists are the enemies of all free people … of all humanity, be it in Syria, Turkey, France or Germany.”
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Islamist, leftist and Kurdish militants, who are battling Ankara in southeast Turkey, have all carried out attacks in the past.
Norway’s foreign ministry said one Norwegian man was injured and was being treated in hospital.
Turkey, a candidate for accession to the European Union, is part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State fighters who have seized territory in neighbouring Syria and Iraq, some of it directly abutting Turkey.
Turkey has become a target for Islamic State, with two bombings last year blamed on the radical Sunni Muslim group, in the town of Suruc near the Syrian border and in the capital Ankara, the latter killing more than 100 people. (Reuters)
