Bomb blasts ahead of Blair visit to Turkey
Two percussion bombs, which are loud but cause little damage, went off in front of two HSBC branches in Istanbul, shattering the bank windows.
A third bomb went off underneath a parked car of an HSBC bank staffer in Ankara, damaging the car and the bank slightly. A fourth blast also shattered windows of another HSBC branch in Ankara.
Police briefly cordoned off the explosion sites in Ankara and towed away the damaged car for forensic examination. Broken glass carpeted the asphalt at the sites, not far from the British Embassy, in the affluent Cankaya district.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attacks.
Suspected al-Qaida bombers blew up trucks packed with explosives at the British consulate and the main headquarters of HSBC in Istanbul in November, killing 27 people. The truck bombings had coincided with US President George Bush’s state visit to Britain.
British Consul-General Roger Short was among those killed in the suicide bombings, which were the worst terrorist attacks in Turkey’s history. They came five days after suspected al-Qaida militants blew up two Istanbul synagogues in similar fashion, killing 23 people.
Tony Blair, who strongly backs Turkey’s aspirations to join the European Union, travels to Ankara today for talks on the EU, Cyprus, Iraq and the Middle East, officials.
Mr Blair was scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Ahmet Necdet Sezer in the Turkish capital today, British and Turkish officials said.
He is expected to hold a joint news conference with Mr Erdogan before returning to London later today. The meeting is the first of an annual series of summits between Britain and Turkey.
Turkey, located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, is hoping to begin EU membership talks at the end of the year. Turkish membership would stretch the bloc’s borders to Syria and Iraq.
The predominantly Muslim nation has carried out sweeping reforms in the last two years as it tries to meet the EU’s so-called Copenhagen criteria. It has, for example, abolished the death penalty and granted greater cultural rights to long-oppressed Kurds.
Britain is a leading advocate of Turkish membership, arguing that the nation can help bridge differences between Europe and the Muslim world and aid in the fight against terrorism.
Earlier this year, Mr Blair said accepting Turkey into the club would show Europe was committed to “diverse races, cultures and religions”.
Britain believes the reform process is not yet complete, but thinks Ankara’s progress should be rewarded by launching membership talks. EU leaders are scheduled to decide in December whether to do that.
“We have to meet them part way,” a British official said. “Turkey has made important progress. We should recognise that by setting a date for the beginning of negotiations.”
French President Jacques Chirac has taken a harder stance and said Ankara is unlikely to meet the conditions required for membership for another 10 to 15 years.
Mr Blair’s office said the talks are also likely to focus on the reunification of Cyprus, which has been divided into a Greek Cypriot-controlled south and a Turkish-occupied north since Turkey invaded in 1974.
A UN plan to reunify the island foundered when it was rejected by Greek Cypriots in an April 24 referendum.
Turkey borders Iraq and is viewed by Britain as a strategic power in the region. Mr Blair will urge Turkey to foster a constructive relationship with the new Iraqi government, commercially and politically, a government source said.
