15 Face Istanbul Bomb Charge

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 11-25-2003 | Amberin Zaman

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15 face Istanbul bomb charge

By Amberin Zaman in Istanbul
(Filed: 25/11/2003)

Fifteen people detained in connection with Thursday's suicide bomb attacks in Istanbul have been transferred to a state security court after being interrogated for four days.

The aftermath of Thursday's bomb at the HSBC building in Istanbul

Istanbul's governor, Muammer Guler, declined to identify the suspects, who were expected to be charged with "aiding and abetting terrorists". He said the suicide bomber who drove an explosives-laden lorry into the British consulate building had been identified, but he refused to name him.

At least 30 people died and more than 450 were injured in the attacks on the consulate and the headquarters of the London-based HSBC bank on Thursday morning.

The conservative daily Milliyet reported that the DNA tests had revealed that one of the suicide bombers was Feridun Ugurlu, a Turk, who had allegedly fought in Afghanistan and Chechnya.

Ugurlu was also linked to suicide bomb attacks against two Istanbul synagogues which took place only five days before the bombing of British targets. He and and another suspect named as Azad Ekinci, an ethnic Kurd from the south eastern province of Bingol, were believed to have provided logistic support for the synagogue bombings.