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| Six die in US consulate attack in Istanbul Three police officers and three assailants were killed in an exchange of fire outside the US consulate in Istanbul on Wednesday in the most serious attack on a foreign target in Turkey for five years. Gunmen attacked the fortress-like, purpose-built consulate north of the city centre at about 11am, witnesses said. A gun battle broke out that lasted about 10 minutes. The three attackers who died were Turkish citizens, according to the governor of Istanbul. “This is an obvious act of terrorism,” said Ross Wilson, the US ambassador to Turkey. He said No consular staff or US citizens had been killed, and security was being strengthened at the Ankara embassy and at another US consulate in the southern city of Adana. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which was condemned across the political spectrum in Turkey. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, said it was a “heinous” attack against “ the stability and tranquillity of Turkey”. Political tension in Turkey is very high after the discovery of an alleged plot by extreme nationalists to overthrow the government, but officials said there was unlikely to be any connection between that development and Wednesday’s attack. “I expect and assume these are unrelated events,” Mr Wilson said. The attack was the deadliest on a foreign target in Turkey since November 2003, when more than 60 people died in Istanbul in bomb explosions at two synagogues, the British consulate and the Turkey headquarters of HSBC bank. Seven people, including a Syrian man said to be the mastermind, were jailed for life last year for those attacks, which were linked to al-Qaeda. Turkish officials refused to speculate on which group or groups might be behind Wednesday’s attack. Turkey has a history of terrorist attacks, with Kurdish separatists, Islamist fundamentalists and groups linked to al-Qaeda all implicated at one time or another. Aykut Cengiz Engin, chief prosecutor of Istanbul, said: “The modus operandi, nature and characteristics of the attack show it was an act of terror.” Meanwhile, three German tourists were abducted in eastern Turkey, apparently by the PKK Kurdish separatist group that has been fighting Turkey for decades. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/583719f4-4d95-11...0077b07658.html |
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| Turkey gunman 'travelled to Afghanistan' A Turkish government official says one of the gunmen who attacked the US consulate in Istanbul has travelled to Afghanistan. Authorities are investigating whether the group is linked to al-Qaeda. The official, who is close to the investigation, says Erkan Kargin, one of the three attackers killed by police outside the consulate, is known to have travelled to Afghanistan. Turkish authorities say dozens of Turks have undergone military training in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and also fought in al-Qaeda ranks in Iraq against US-led forces. However, the attack did not match the hallmarks of al-Qaeda, such as coordinated attacks by suicide bombers that cause mass casualties. The armed attack in Istanbul left three policemen and three assailants dead. Four armed men emerged from a grey car about 11am local time on Wednesday and shot a traffic policeman, then ran toward a guard post at the entrance to the consulate and shot at policemen there, according to a security video. Police fired back at the men, killing three of them. At least one of the assailants escaped the chaos in the car. No staff at the Consulate - perched on a hill and surrounded by high walls - were hurt, US ambassador Ross Wilson said. Wilson and Istanbul's governor branded the assault a terrorist attack. Security around all US diplomatic missions in Turkey was immediately increased and the consulate cancelled visa interviews for Thursday. Turkey has been vigilant against homegrown Islamic militants since al-Qaeda-linked suicide bombers killed 58 people in 2003 by targeting two synagogues, the British Consulate and a British bank in Istanbul. Turkey has also been cracking down on ultranationalists who have attacked Christians, and Kurdish rebels, two groups it deems a threat to the country's security. "Turkey is a fertile ground which is nourishing militants from almost every ideology - from radical Islamic ones to leftist and ultranationalist ones," said Nihat Ali Ozcan of the Economic Policy Research Institute in Ankara. "It is difficult to contain them and it is even more difficult to prevent terrorist attacks," he added. The attack also comes amid heightened political tensions in Turkey between the Islamic-oriented government and military-backed secular circles, with the ruling party facing a legal effort to close it down. The United States has expressed support for government-led democratic reforms in Turkey, but has been careful not to take a side in the dispute. NTV television and Dogan news agency identified the attackers as 26-year-old Erkan Kargin and 20-year-old Raif Topcil from the southeastern city of Bitlis and Bulent Cinar, 23, from the eastern city of Igdir. Police would not confirm their identities, but Interior Minister Besir Atalay said two of the assailants had criminal records. "There is no doubt that this is a terrorist attack," Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler told reporters at the scene, calling the three slain policemen martyrs. Two other people, a policeman and a truck driver, were injured, he said. Guler said two of the attackers were Turkish, denying speculation they had Syrian passports. The US ambassador praised the quick action of the Turkish police and stressed that the United States and Turkey would keep working together against terrorism. "It is, of course, inappropriate now to speculate on who may have done this or why. It is an obvious act of terrorism," Wilson said. "Our countries will stand together and confront this, as we have in the past." http://news.smh.com.au/world/turkey-gunman...80710-3cq9.html |
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version of Hezbollah as the cunts which carried out the attack were from Bitlis, a town which has links to Hezbollah | QUOTE (Raven @ July 10, 2008 05:57 pm) |
| it was probably the "Turkish" version of Hezbollah as the cunts which carried out the attack were from Bitlis, a town which has links to Hezbollah |
| QUOTE (Kayakiran @ July 11, 2008 07:11 pm) |
| If I am not mistaking, the "Turkish" hezbullah was sanctioned by MIT to counter the pkk and their supporters. I remember seeing some reports on TV about 10 years ago while visiting in Turkey. Authorities were beginning to crack down on them. I remember the police unearthing hog-tied bodies from cellars. |
| QUOTE (Raven @ July 11, 2008 02:06 pm) |
| Hezbollah was basically set up to counter the PKK. they basically got some religious nutjobs from the SE to fight PKK who are of course Marxists/Atheists. then they got out of control. as far as i know though, i think their leader was killed in a shootout a few years ago by armed police. |
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| then they got out of control. |