Terror attack in Istanbul not specifically directed against German citizens

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, although it was not clear if she was one of the suspects Mr Ala was referring to. The Turkish government quickly attributed the attack to ISIS, adding that a Syrian man who recently crossed the border to Turkey was behind the deadly blast.

The country is also dealing with more than 2 million Syrian refugees and a wave of migrants from Syria and other countries pouring across Turkey to Europe. “All his links will be worked out now”.

Kurdish, leftist and Islamist militants have all carried out attacks in Turkey in the past.

The explosion went off by the Obelisk of Theodosius, a monument from ancient Egypt, one of the city’s most iconic landmarks.

With the bombing, the group risks a harsher crackdown from Turkish authorities, who have been criticized for not doing enough to prevent the country being used as a conduit for supplies and recruits.

But he was not on any wanted lists or global terror watchlists.

Joerg Manthei, a spokesman for Berlin-based travel agent Lebenslust Touristik, said all 10 of the Germans who were killed had booked their trip through its agency, as well as seven of the injured.

However, speaking at a press conference in Istanbul on Wednesday morning Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière said that there no indication that Germans had been specifically targeted.

Turkish intelligence is also said to have issued warnings on the November Paris attacks.

This contrasts with its relentless offensive against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) since July which has seen air and ground operations not just in Turkey but northern Iraq. The square, including the centuries old Sultan Ahmet Mosque and the 6th-century Greek Orthodox church, is the most popular site among the tourists visiting Istanbul.

Last month, Turkish authorities arrested two suspected Islamic State militants they said were planning suicide bombings during New Year’s celebrations in the capital Ankara.

The attacker targeted the historic square in the country’s economic center. Scarves with the Bayern Munich football club emblem were left along with carnations and roses at the scene, before Turkish police sealed off the area.

Another 15 people were wounded, majority Germans but also Norwegians, Peruvians and at least one Turk.

Backdropped by the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, better known as the Blue Mosque in the historic Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, vistors watch near the area of Tuesday’s explosion, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016.

“I saw the young man pull the pin and I shouted ‘run!’ in German. Then we started to run away, and the bomb instantly exploded”. Families of IS recruits and human rights activists in the Caucasus have described Turkey as the main gateway to Syria for Russian fighters.