Bloodbath on Jewish Sabbath in Istanbul

[Dreamer128]

Car bombs have ripped through two synagogues in Turkey, killing at least 23people and injuring around 300. Worshippers in Istanbul were celebrating the Jewish Sabbath when the blasts happened. The attacks have been claimed by a Turkish group calling itself the Islamic Great East Raiders, which carried out a number of bombings in the 1990s.

It wants to replace the country's secular system with a strict Islamic state. It is said to share the ideas of Al Qaeda and Ansar al Islam, which is thought to be behind some of the anti-US attacks in Iraq. The blasts hit the central Neve Shalom synagogue, the city's largest, and the smaller Beit Israel synagogue in the commercial Sisli district.

Foreign minister Abdullah Gul has described the incident as a terrorist attack with "international links." And the interior minister has refused to rule out the direct hand of Al Qaeda, which has been blamed for strikes on other Jewish targets around the world in the last 18 months.

Israel was quick to draw a link with Al Qaeda and called on the international community to fight global terrorism. Numerous foreign governments have condemned the bombings. The blasts will have brought back nightmares of the attack on the Neve Shalom synagogue by Palestinians in 1986, which killed 22 Jews. The minority has lived in Turkey for centuries and has enjoyed peaceful relations with the secular Muslim majority.

Follow up article:

Islamic extremists claim deadly synagogue blast in Turkey

An islamic extremist group has claimed responsibility for the explosions at two synagogues in the Turkish city of Istanbul which have left at least 24 people dead and injured dozens. The so-called Islamic Great East Raiders, whose leader is currently in jail in Turkey, said it carried out the attacks.

But Turkish security services have pointed the finger at Al Quaeda. Police have been quoted at saying that car bombs caused the blasts. They appear to have been coordinated at a time when the Jewish community was at prayer. The explosions took place at the Neve Shalom and Beit Israel synagogues in downtown Istanbul.

Security has been tight at Jewish community centres since Neve Shalom, the city's largest synagogue, was targeted by Palestinian terrorists in 1986, when 22 Jews died. There is speculation here that the blasts were an attempt to disrupt the peaceful relations between the Jewish minority and the secular muslim majority in this country.

The attack also has serious implications for Turkey which has until now escaped the terrorist attacks that have struck other middle eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia and Morocco in recent months.

[Source: Euronews.net]

[ 11-15-2003, 07:34 PM: Message edited by: Dreamer128 ]

[johnny]

It's like deja vu all over again.