At Least 1 Dead, Several Injured in Explosion in Istanbul

An official at the German foreign ministry said it could not be ruled out that German citizens may have been injured and that its crisis unit and the consulate in Istanbul were urgently working with the Turkish authorities to find out.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the explosion a terrorist act which was carried out by a Syrian suicide bomber. He did not provide details.

There was a group of German tourists on the square at the time of the blasts, an official from a tour company told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, Davutoglu “expressed that terrorism targets all countries, emphasized our determination about the fight against global terrorist organizations and underlined that all medical interventions for the wounded German citizens are being made”.

Turkey’s Dogan news agency said one Norwegian and a Peruvian were also among the wounded, and Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said a South Korean had a finger injury. “Before we judge, we must try to understand more”, Renzi told Repubblica TV when asked about the blast in the Turkish city.

It has been almost a year since the last major terrorist attacked in Istanbul, in which a female suicide bomber blew herself up at a tourist police station not far from the same square. It also urged travelers to stay away from demonstrations and gatherings, particularly in large cities. The Turkish police immediately arrived at the scene of the explosion, sealing off the area for fears of a second explosion.

The blast took place near the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, two of Turkey’s most popular tourist attractions.

The bomber who carried out the attack in Istanbuls Sultanahmet district was a 28-year-old Syrian national, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said. “Buildings rattled from the force of the explosion”.

“This increased risk is both the result of potential attacks from ISIS, as Turkey contributes more and more to the anti-ISIS coalition, and also potentially from PKK and other affiliated movements”, he adds.

There was no immediate claim of responsibly, but Turkish officials have blamed the Islamic State for recent bombings elsewhere in Turkey.

Nations around the world have begun to rally behind Turkey in the wake of Tuesday’s suicide bombing in Istanbul that killed 10 people.

In October, 103 people were killed in a twin suicide bomb attack in capital Ankara while more than 30 were killed in a blast in Suruc, close to the Syrian border, in July.