Charges Sought for Turkey Bomb Suspects

AP ^ | 11/24/2003 | PAUL AMES

[a_Turk]

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Public prosecutors sought on Monday to charge 12 alleged accomplices of last week's Istanbul suicide bombers, amid signs of progress in the investigation into a suspected Islamic terror cell.

Also, authorities using DNA samples have identified the man who rammed an explosive-packed pickup truck into the city's British Consulate, just minutes after the bombing of the London-based HSBC bank, Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler said.

"We've identified the culprits who carried out the attack on the British Consulate," Guler said. "We have all the details and we know their connections."

Guler would not name the man.

However, the Istanbul daily, Milliyet, defied government reporting restrictions and identified him as Feridun Ugurlu, a Turk believed to have fought with Islamic radicals in Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Chechnya (news - web sites). Turkish media reports have said police have tentatively identified the other suicide bomber as Azad Ekinci.

Turkish media said both bombers in Thursday's attacks were militants previously reported to be accomplices of the suicide bombers in the Nov. 16 attacks on two Istanbul synagogues that killed 23 people.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a televised national address on the eve of the religious holiday ending the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, appealed to Turks to resist terrorism.

"This is a war between justice and cruelty, good and bad, and true and false, it is our right to expect every sensible person to stand by justice, good, and true in this war," Erdogan said.

On Monday, police escorted 16 suspects, all alleged accomplices, into a security court that handles terrorism cases.

News reports said that public prosecutors were calling for charges against 12 of them. It was not immediately known what the charges would be.

Four others were released apparently for lack of evidence, the Anatolia news agency reported.

The suspects covered their heads with jackets and coats as they arrived at the court. A police line held back a crowd of shouting relatives, which included several women wearing black chadors, the all-covering garment rare in downtown Istanbul.

Those appearing in court were among 18 suspects detained after Thursday's attacks. The three others remained in custody at an Istanbul police station.

The attacks, which killed 30 people, coincided with a visit to London by President Bush (news - web sites). They came days after the double bombing against two Istanbul synagogues.

Police are examining the hard drives of 10 computers taken after the synagogue bombings from an Bingol Internet cafe that belonged to the brother of one of the suspected bombers, a local official said by telephone. He asked not to be named.

On Sunday, Erdogan said it was too early to confirm al-Qaida involvement. Foreign and Turkish officials say the attacks bore the hallmarks of the network led by Osama bin Laden (news - web sites).

Turkish investigators spread out to the southeastern city of Bingol, believed to be the hometown of all four suicide bombers. The city is a hotbed of the Hezbollah radical Islamic group, which is separate from the Lebanese group of the same name.

Experts speculate that Hezbollah may have been backed by Turkish authorities in the early 1980s to counter Kurdish separatists fighting a bloody insurgency against the military in the southeast. Turkey now sees the group as a threat to the secular state and is investigating any links to al-Qaida.

On Wednesday, authorities arrested six people in connection with the synagogue bombings. A court charged five with "attempting to overthrow the constitutional structure," which carries a life sentence. The sixth was charged with "helping illegal organizations," punishable by five years in prison.

No trial date was set.

Under government instructions, sermons in mosques around the country were to carry an anti-terrorism message at the start of the three-day religious holiday ending Ramadan on Tuesday.

[a_Turk]

Nine people were charged by a state security court over the massive bomb attacks on British targets in Istanbul, as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed that terror would not be allowed to take hold on Turkish soil.(AFP)


Tourists wander around the Byzantine church of Hagia Sophia, a landmark of Istanbul, Friday Nov. 21, 2003


Vintage trams pass by as people wander the Istiklal main pedestrian street, the social hub of downtown Istanbul's Beyoglu district and also the scene of two of the four suicide bomb attacks that shook Turkey's largest city over the past week, Monday, Nov. 24, 2003. The oriental splendor of Turkey draws millions of curious visitors here every year. Whether that will change following a wave of deadly suicide bombings is one of the key questions hanging over this nation as it recovers from the carnage. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)


Tourists wander around the 6th-century Basilica Cistern, a main tourist attraction in Istanbul, Turkey, Monday, Nov. 24, 2003


German foreign minister Joschka Fischer (L) and his counterpart Abdullah Gul (R) speak to media after their conversation in the Turkish capital Ankara. Fischer met with his Turkish counterpart Gul, to discuss twin bomb attacks in Istanbul last week.(AFP)


Two of fifteen suspects connected to the four suicide bombings in Istanbul last week are brought to the state security court by plain clothes policemen, in Istanbul November 24, 2003. Turkish police investigating four devastating truck bomb attacks in Istanbul transferred 15 suspects to a state security court on Monday as Turkey's allies reaffirmed their solidarity in the fight against terrorism. REUTERS/Fatih Saribas


Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I , bottom right, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians leads a mass at the patriarchal cathedral of St. George in Istanbul, Turkey Sunday Nov. 23, 2003. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

[a_Turk]

"This is a war between justice and cruelty, good and bad, and true and false, it is our right to expect every sensible person to stand by justice, good, and true in this war," Erdogan said.

[RottiBiz]

Great article and pictures. Thanks.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Please change the headline. It is begging for Thanksgiving Joke. Good post though.

[a_Turk]

It's a year round joke that never gets old!



It's not that I couldn't do better, the headlines "Turkey President," "Turkey Police," "Turkey General" are constantly used by AP/Reuters/AFP, as well as other mainly British news sources. I'll just gobble along..

[Conspiracy Guy]

But when they use Turkeys as bombs, things have gone too far. Didn't that happen on WKRP when they threw domestic turkeys out of a helicopter not knowing only the wild ones can fly. Les Nessman was on the ground giving a Hindenburg type "Oh the humanities" speech over live radio. Or did I just dream that up? What was PETA's reaction?

[DH]

"Turkey Bombs!!!!!" Is that their latest terrorist threat...turkey bombs on our tables this year? That does it. We are going to have ham this year...that is...unles they start making "Pork Bombs."

[a_Turk]

And whatever you do, don't play any records by Sam and Ella this Thanksgiving :))

[a_Turk]

:}

[Conspiracy Guy]

They make me sick. I hate their music.

[Piquaboy]

I sure hope that the Turks do not violate their civil rights. (sarcasm)

[boris]

I have personally witnessed use of the dread Baloney Bomb, and it ain't pretty.

[txhurl]

I sure like the Turkish flag. What is the meaning of the moon and star?

[aristotleman]

I prefer the Greek word for the bird turkey: We call it "gallo", which means "frenchie". -because it sounds like it's speaking french.

No joke.

[a_Turk]

It's our ages old battle flag based on the reflection of the moon and star in a pool of blood.

[Steve_Seattle]

"We've identified the culprits who carried out the attack on the British Consulate," Guler said. "We have all the details and we know their connections."

The U.S. ought to hire these guys to help find Saddam. they seem to work fast, perhaps unencumbered by PC considerations and other niceties. .

[wtc911]

The pool of blood represented by the red is that of Christians defeated by muslims at the 1448 battle of kossovo. This marked the beginnibg of the Ottoman Empire and all the good things it brought to the world.

[a_Turk]

LOL!

The batttttle of Kosssssovo wasn't in 1448 but in 1389, as all honorable Serbs will remember.

Dementia, I guess.

There's nothing like a worthy rival in the open field of battle.

[wtc911]

You say that the red represents war of independance (from whom?) in the 20th century but the flag was in use by 1844.

Of course the Armenians brought about their own near annilihation at the hands of the turks; we all know that the Armenian military juggernaut had therir way with the weak as a kitten turkish caliphate and left as you said, only a few men alive.

And of course we all know that Attaturk was the "top statesman of the millenium", as you say. I am furious whenever I hear anyone praise Churchill or FDR or Gandhi...if only we could educate the rest of the world...