Turkey detains 4 over Istanbul attack

In a statement Tuesday, National Security Council spokesperson Ned Price said that the United States stands with NATO-ally Turkey, a “valued member” of the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State, and pledges “our ongoing co-operation and support in the fight against terrorism” in the face of the Istanbul attack.

Speaking at a technology forum in Ankara, Davutoglu said six people had been killed and 39 wounded in the attack in the small town of Cinar.

Virtually all Turkish newspapers dedicated their front pages Wednesday to the terrorist attack that killed 10 people in Istanbul’s historic Sultanahmet Square.

“I am telling you loud and clear: We will definitely respond to such attacks against us when required”, Davutoglu noted.

Police on Wednesday removed a cordon preventing access to the area of the attack, which was quickly thronged by media and some tourists, an AFP correspondent said.

Chancellor Angela Merkel had on Tuesday reported eight dead German nationals from the blast.

“As of today, a ban on entry to Turkey has been imposed on 35,970 people from 124 countries, 387 people among them are German citizens”, Ala said at a joint press conference with German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere.

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Tuesday that the bomber had been identified, was born in 1988, and was thought to have been living in Syria, from where he was believed to have recently entered Turkey.

Germany’s Foreign Ministry said the number of dead Germans in Tuesday’s explosion had risen to 10, but de Maiziere said there was no sign that Germans were specifically targeted.

De Maiziere said: “I see no reason to refrain from traveling to Turkey”.

Germany committed Tornado reconnaissance jets to the military effort against the Islamic State group in Syria following the November attacks in Paris, and started flying missions from the Incirlik air base in Turkey last week.

It has become a target of the terror group, with two of last year’s bombings blamed on them.

The foreign ministry in Berlin said Wednesday all 10 of those killed in the attack were German.

Emphasizing Germany’s close relations with Turkey, de Maiziere said that both countries were affected by terrorism and that a common response was necessary to counter the threat. Berlin said seven injured Germans were being treated in hospital, five of them in intensive care.

Turkish media reports said police had raided a home in an affluent neighbourhood of Istanbul, detaining one woman suspected of having links to the Islamic State group. “Your pain is our pain” Vatan newspaper said.

And a week before the attack, 220 people “identified” as IS members were detained in Turkey, the interior minister said on Wednesday.