ISTANBUL,
November 15 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The international
community fiercely condemned the devastating bomb attacks Saturday,
November 15, near two synagogues in Turkey as the death toll has risen
to 20.
An
official from the city's health department told Agence France-Presse
(AFP) that more than 200 people were hurt in the explosions, adding
that the exact figure was difficult to determine because injured
people were being transferred between hospitals.
Both
blasts, which officials say were caused by explosive-laden vehicles,
went off near synagogues during Sabbath prayers.
As
the heinous bomb attacks drew bitter world condemnation, Turkish
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said he believed "international
terrorist organizations" might have been involved in the attacks.
Pledges
To Fight "Terrorism"
Israel
was the quickest to react. "No country in the world is immune to
terrorism, this is why all states should fight against the forces of
evil," Israeli army radio reported Israel's Foreign Minister
Silvan Shalom as saying.
"We
hope the international community will not be content with condemning
what happened in Istanbul but will take vigorous action against
terrorism, which is a global phenomenon," Shalom said.
Israel
immediately offered its help to the authorities in Turkey, the Jewish
state's only Muslim ally in the region.
"We
have offered our assistance to the Turkish authorities as well as to
the local Jewish community and have set up a situation room at the
foreign ministry (in occupied Jerusalem)," a ministry spokesman
told AFP.
"Israel's
consul in Istanbul was sent to the scene of the blasts," he said.
In
France, where a Jewish school was the subject of an apparent arson
attack Saturday, President Jacques Chirac said: "Acts of such
barbarity can only spark anger and indignation and strengthen the
determination of democratic nations to work together to fight
anti-Semitism and all expressions of intolerance, and to combat
terrorism without respite."
In
a letter to his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Chirac said he
was "profoundly moved and shocked" by the attacks, which his
government condemned as "abominable", and sent France's
condolences to the Turkish people.
German
Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer also urged the international
community to crack down on what he termed “anti-Semitism”.
"It
is particularly frightening and enraging that such barbarous attacks
should have targeted synagogues where worshippers had gathered for
Sabbath prayers," he said, offering his condolences to the
victims.
"(They)
show yet again that the fight against international terrorism and
anti-Semitism needs to be conducted by the international community...
This fight must be conducted with determination and with all our
might," Fischer said.
Pakistan,
a Muslim state and a key ally in the United States' "war on
terror", reacted in similar vein.
"We
strongly condemn the terrorist attacks in Istanbul and condole with
the government and people of Turkey over the losses caused by the
dastardly acts," Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan
said.
"We
also convey our heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved families and to
the injured."
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The blasts caused massive damage
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For
his part, Pope John Paul II appealed for peace and condemned terrorism
in a message of condolence to the Turkish people, while European
Commission President Romano Prodi offered condolences "on behalf
of the entire European Union" at a synagogue in the northern
Italian city of Milan, Italy's Ansa news agency reported.
Greece,
whose relations with neighboring Turkey are often strained, was quick
to condemn the attacks as "barbaric and atrocious" and offer
its condolences to the victims' families, the Turkish people and the
government in Ankara.
Greece
is fearful (its own) extremists could launch attacks in Athens during
the Olympic Games there in 2004.
Turkish
Kurd rebels, who are often highly critical of the Ankara government,
were of one mind with the authorities Saturday.
"This
is a terrorist act and we do not accept it. We condemn this act and we
present our condolences to the families of the deceased," said
the leader of the Turkish Congress for Democracy and Freedom in
Kurdistan (KADEK) - the former Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
"This
is a place of worship that should not be targeted," KADEK leader
Zubeyir Aybar told a news conference at the Iran-Iraq border.
In
Istanbul, Turkish Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu confirmed the
security forces were examining the possibility of an involvement by
international terrorist organizations.
"We
are considering each and every possibility. We are also assessing
international terrorist organizations," Aksu told reporters.
"An
incident of such a scale might not be just the work of a domestic
organization," he said.
Aksu
dismissed an unidentified claim that the bombs had been planted by a
small, Turkish Muslim group called the IBDA-C.
The
blasts could be linked to "recent development in the Middle
East" and might have targeted Jews in Istanbul simply because
they were "a soft target", a diplomat told AFP.
