Suicide Car Bombers Kill 23 in Turkey

[Seraphim]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031115/ap_on_re_mi_ea/turkey_explosion&cid=540&ncid=716


By JAMES C. HELICKE, Associated Press Writer

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Suicide car bombers attacked two synagogues in downtown Istanbul at almost the same time Saturday, killing 23 people, the interior minister said.



One explosion went off outside the Neve Shalom synagogue, the city's largest. The other severely damaged the Beth Israel Synagogue in the affluent district of Sisli, three miles away.


An outlawed Turkish radical group called the Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front claimed responsibility, the semi-official Anatolia news agency said.


Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said 23 people were killed, while Anatolia said more than 80 were wounded. He said both attacks were suicide car bombings.


Television footage showed medical teams carrying away several people, some with bloodied or charred faces. Private NTV television showed the twisted wreckage of a car and a huge crater in front of the Neve Shalom.


NTV television said a red car was seen parked just before the explosion in front of the Neve Shalom. Police suspected that the car may have been laden with bombs, NTV said.


In 1986, gunmen killed 22 worshippers and wounded six during a Sabbath service at the Neve Shalom synagogue. The Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah carried out a bomb attack against the synagogue in 1992, but no one was injured.

[wholagun]

:| Im Speechless :(

[jdbjdb]

sometimes it just seems so hopeless, do you realize the chaos that would follow if someone blew up a mosque?

[Nizark]

The Turkish Islamic group IBDA/C claimed responsibility for the attacks. They are another turkish group that wants to establish an islamic state, although these guys are sunni and are completely opposed to the shiite brand of iranian islam. They often work with the PKK and Turkish hezbollah, but with the PKK disbanding, I guess they wanted to show that they are still a threat. A join turk-israeli investigation is starting up. Looks like a lil Mossad is what this group is gonna get. :bash:

[Nizark]

Now they are saying IBDA/C isn't this well armed to mount an attack on this scale...They normally do drive by's and malatov cocktails. They are also saying there is a strong smell of ammonia (sp?) It looks and smells like Al qaeda thought. Multiple attacks, jewish target, high numbers dead.
Second attack in a week.

I would look toward India or Pakistan for the next attack within a week

[Argyll]

Ammonia comes from the home made explosives,if memory serves me well?
With regards to attacking a Mosque,well there was a suicide bomb outside the one in Iraq where over 75 were killed,I can't recollect the exact figs,but one of the leading shi' te clerics I believe was also killed!?

[duck]

Hindu nationalists have attacked and burned mosques in India. In Pakistan there have been many incidents where muslim fundamentalists attacked christian churches. And synagogues are not really safe anywhere in the world...

[Salty Dog]

i read the topic really quickly, and i thought it said "suicide bombers kill 23 turkeys"

[budanski]

I heard its a trend (http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2003/11/15/258840-ap.html) in France as well.

[StarvingStudent47]

Smells like al-Qaeda to me. F---ing bastards.

Hey terrorists: I've got a message for you. You're not going to win. You can't wipe out the Jewish people. The Romans tried. The Jews lived on far after the Roman Empire crumbled. The Tsar tried. The Tsar is gone but we're still here. Hitler tried. Hitler blew his brains out in a bunker and we rose like a phoenix from the rubble.

Jews can be your best friend if you are willing to accept our existence. Dr. Martin Luther King knew. We marched with him. We too felt the pounding of the water hoses and the bite of the attack dogs. Jews like Andrew Goodman and Mickey Schwerner paid the ultimate price in the fight for African-Americans to gain equality in the United States.

But if you try to wipe us out, you'll regret it. People have been trying for thousands of years. We remain; they don't. We can be your best friend or your worst enemy. It's your choice. Choose wisely.

[papasmerf]

We got any terrorists on this forum?

[EvanL]

We got any terrorists on this forum?

I dont think so but im sort of suspect of budanski. ;)

[ArmedPacifist]

"One" is a member of Hezbollah.

[StarvingStudent47]

Consider it an "open letter" as opposed to a genuine comment to anyone specifically.

And I'd appreciate it if this didn't turn into a comedy thread. 23 innocent people were just murdered and 300 more injured and maimed.

[Deuterium]

We got any terrorists on this forum?

Nope just a few confused sympathizers.

[budanski]

I dont think so but im sort of suspect of budanski. ;)

Who snitched on me? Whatever Carlos the Jackal said, its all a lie!

[Haiw]

everyone saying 'Al-Qaida' needs brainsurgery...i'm kinda getting sick of this; whenever a big bombing happens, everyone says ALQAIDA!!! do you guys have ANY idea how many different terrorist organisations there are? sooo many..and it's not like al-qaeda is the only one that has the resources (or do they? i mean, we've already been told by bush time and time again that al-qaeda is out of action and has nothing left to deliver any punch) to pull it off..... shouting al-qaeda after every bombing is really dumb. i recall it was the same after the bali bombing; everyone was shouting al-qaeda (of course the government officials as well), but after a few days or weeks they found out it was just some indonesian group.

[ArmoredDov_D9]

Smells like al-Qaeda to me. F---ing bastards.

Hey terrorists: I've got a message for you. You're not going to win. You can't wipe out the Jewish people. The Romans tried. The Jews lived on far after the Roman Empire crumbled. The Tsar tried. The Tsar is gone but we're still here. Hitler tried. Hitler blew his brains out in a bunker and we rose like a phoenix from the rubble.

Jews can be your best friend if you are willing to accept our existence. Dr. Martin Luther King knew. We marched with him. We too felt the pounding of the water hoses and the bite of the attack dogs. Jews like Andrew Goodman and Mickey Schwerner paid the ultimate price in the fight for African-Americans to gain equality in the United States.

But if you try to wipe us out, you'll regret it. People have been trying for thousands of years. We remain; they don't. We can be your best friend or your worst enemy. It's your choice. Choose wisely.

Well said.

My condulence to the 23 victims. :(

[radon]

ALQAIDA is today more like a brand name or a ideology, like alqaidaism. It means today more than just the organisation from bin laden, but is used as a general name.