Four more suspects detained over Istanbul bombing attack: Turkish PM

Turkish authorities identified the bomber as a Syrian born in 1988, who had recently entered Turkey and was not among a list of potential bombers wanted by Ankara.

The bomber, identified as Nabil Fadli, detonated his charge on Sultanahmet Square which is home to Turkey’s most visited historic sites including the Ottoman-era Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia church.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Turkish interior minister, Efkan Ala, said at a press conference with his German counterpart that Turkey was “seriously investigating” the attack and its perpetrators, and that the first suspect had been detained after the blast on Tuesday.

In economic news, financial newspaper DUNYA covered German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere’s trip to Turkey after the attack.

De Maiziere said there was “no indication” the attack specifically targeted Germans, saying there was no need to cancel travel plans.

The Turkish premier said other countries fighting the Islamic State group had to adopt “a honest stance”, accusing Russian Federation both of preventing Turkey from carrying out raids on the extremists and of bombing schools and hospitals in Syria instead of fighting IS.

The Foreign Ministry has made assurances that there were no Indonesians killed or injured in a blast in an Istanbul tourist area on Tuesday. Officials initially said eight Germans were killed in the bombing, but upped the number to 10 Wednesday. Twenty-one people detained in Sanliurfa were also planning an attack at an unspecified location in Turkey.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkish forces hit 500 Islamic State targets with artillery and tank fire along its border with Syria and near a Turkish camp in northern Iraq.

“I saw the young man pull the pin and I shouted “run” in German”.

Turkey is exposed to multiple terror threats, including Daesh and the PKK, Davutoglu said. “It is as if we are sitting on a bomb ready to explode and the main reason for that is nothing other than turning a blind eye to these jihadists”.

“We have the responsibility to make Istanbul one of the most secure cities in the world”, he added.

It was unclear whether today’s arrests were directly linked to the Istanbul bombing.

Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member, and others are part of a U.S.-led coalition to fight ISIS in the region.

The private Dogan news agency said the dead included the wife of a policeman and a 5-month-old baby who were killed at the police lodgings and two children who died in the collapsed house.

Sozcu: “We used to watch the terror attacks and explosions in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan in dismay; now we are stuck in the middle of dismay!…”

The Satya family from Palmerston North say they are “counting their lucky stars”.

On Wednesday, three more suspected Islamic State members were detained in the southern resort city of Antalya. And 16 people – 15 of them Syrian – were detained in Ankara for allegedly starting to scout out buildings there.