Blasts hit Turkey on eve of Blair visit
By Dan Newling
Last updated at 11:19 17 May 2004
The Turkish cities of Istanbul and Ankara were rocked by four co-ordinated bomb blasts last night - just hours ahead of Tony Blair's visit to the country.
Terrorists are thought to have planted the devices, which damaged branches of the HSBC bank. There were no injuries.
The explosions will increase concerns that Mr Blair could be targeted by Islamic terrorists during his day long visit.
Two percussion bombs, which are loud but cause little damage, went off in front of two HSBC branches in Istanbul, shattering windows.
A third bomb went off underneath a parked car of an HSBC bank worker in Ankara, causing minor damage to the vehicle and the bank. A fourth blast also shattered windows of another HSBC branch in Ankara.
Police 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.
Although there have been no immediate claims of responsibility for the attacks, suspicion immediately turned to groups connected to al-Qaeda.
Last November suspected al-Qaeda bombers blew up trucks packed with explosives at the British consulate and the main headquarters of HSBC in Istanbul, killing 27 people including British consul-general Roger Short.
Mr Blair, who strongly backs Turkey's aspirations to join the European Union, is travelling to Ankara today for talks on European expansion.
Britain is a leading advocate of Turkish membership, arguing that the nation can help bridge differences between Europe and the Moslem world and aid in the fight against terrorism.
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