Suspect detained in connection with Istanbul bombing

Turkish officials identified the bomber as Nabil Fadli, a Syrian national born in Saudi Arabia in 1988, who was fingerprinted in Turkey last week while registering as a refugee with immigration officials.

Terrorist attacks are nothing new for Turkey, but Tuesday’s bloodshed marked a possible pivot point: the Islamic State apparently turning its focus towards the tourism sector in a country that draws around 40 million holidaymakers a year. And 16 people – 15 of them Syrian – were detained in Ankara for allegedly starting to scout out buildings there.

“Eleven people, including the suicide bomber died during the attack”.

However, the German foreign ministry has advised its nationals to keep away from large groups in public places and tourist attractions in Istanbul.

The conflict between government forces and the PKK has killed tens of thousands of people since 1984.

It was not clear if the attacker had specifically targeted Germans.

Tuesday’s blast – if it’s confirmed to be the terror group’s work – ups the ante for Ankara, forcing it to step up its anti-ISIS fight even more, according to Gohel. He would not provide details on the investigation, saying it would compromise those efforts.

Germany sent a team of investigators to Istanbul from its Federal Criminal Police Office to support Turkish authorities investigating the attack.

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.

Officials initially said that at least eight Germans were among the dead in Tuesday’s explosion.

Some German victims of the suicide attack in Istanbul were on a three-city tour organised by Berlin agency Lebenslust Touristik, the company told AFP Wednesday.

Television reports broadcast worldwide showed police had cordoned off the blast area as ambulance crews attended to victims, who included people from Russia, Norway, Peru and South Korea as well as Germany, according to media reports. They flew their first missions last week.

Thomas de Maiziere, the German interior minister, said it did not appear that Germans were deliberately targeted.

Top German and Turkish officials already were scheduled to meet in Berlin next week to discuss Europe’s migrant crisis, in which Turkey – which borders both Syria and the European Union – is a key player. Now Germans have been affected in the most-visited square in Istanbul, accounting for most of the 10 people left dead on Tuesday morning. About 6,000 faithful packed the Paul VI audience hall.

The suspected IS bomber, who is believed to have recently arrived in Turkey from Syria, detonated in the capital’s Sultanahmet district, a historic and popular tourist destination.

Turkish police have arrested one person in connection with the suicide bombing in Istanbul that killed 10 foreigners, a lot of them German tourists, Turkish Minister of the Interior Efkan Ala said yesterday.