WORLD NEWS 9
Wednesday 13 January 2016
Suicide bomber kills 10, wounds 15 in Istanbul tourist area
MEHMET GUZEL SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ISTANBUL (AP) — A suicide bomber detonated a bomb in the heart of Istanbul’s historic district on Tuesday, killing 10 foreigners — most of them German tourists — and wounding 15 other people in the latest in a string of attacks by the Islamic extremists targeting Westerners. The blast, just steps from the historic Blue Mosque and a former Byzantine church in the city’s storied Sultanahmet district, was the first by IS to target Turkey’s vital tourism sector, although IS militants have struck with deadly effect elsewhere in the country. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the bomber was a member of IS and pledged to battle the militant group until it no longer “remains a threat” to Turkey or the world. Davutoglu described the assailant as a “foreign national,” and Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said he was a Syrian citizen born in 1988. However, the private Dogan news agency said the bomber was Saudi-born. Kurtulmus said the attacker was believed to have recently entered Turkey from Syria and was not among a list of poten-
tial bombers wanted by Turkey. “Turkey won’t backtrack in its struggle against Daesh by even one step,” Davutoglu said, referring to IS by its Arabic acronym. “This terror organization, the assailants and all of their connections will be found and they will receive the punishments they deserve.” Eight Germans were among the dead and nine others were wounded, some seriously, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters in Berlin. The nationalities of the two others killed in the blast were not immediately released, but both were foreigners. The wounded also included citizens of Norway, Peru, South Korea and Turkey. Turkey’s state-run news agency said Davutoglu held a telephone conversation with German chancellor Angela Merkel to express his condolences. “I strongly condemn the terror incident that occurred in Istanbul, at the Sultanahmet Square, and which has been assessed as being an attack by a Syria-rooted suicide bomber,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. Merkel pledged Germany would continue its fight against terrorism.
Policemen secure the historic Sultanahmet district after an explosion in Istanbul, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016. An explosion in a historic district of Istanbul popular with tourists killed 10 people and injured 15 others Tuesday morning, the Istanbul governor’s office said. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
“Today Istanbul was the target, before Paris, Copenhagen, Tunis, and so many other areas,” she told reporters in Berlin. “International terror changes the places of its attacks but its goal is always the same — it is our free life, in free society. The terrorists are the enemies of all free people, indeed, the enemies of all humanity, whether in Syria or Turkey, in France or Germany.” The impact of Tuesday’s attack, while not as deadly
as two others last year, was particularly far-reaching because it struck at Turkey’s $30 billion tourism industry, which has already suffered from a steep decline in Russian visitors since Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border in November. Its apparent links to Syria also threatened to have implications in a country that is already dealing with more than 2 million Syrian refugees and a wave of migrants from Syria and other
countries pouring across Turkey to Europe. “By striking in the heart of Istanbul’s old city, which has many ... tourists, but few Turks, (IS) is targeting Turkey’s lucrative tourism industry,” said Soner Cagaptay, an expert on Turkey at the Washington Institute. Cagaptay said that by targeting Germans, Islamic extremists also seemed to be aiming to heighten an anti-refugee backlash in Europe and deepen the anti-Islam sentiment there.
Iran official denies report of nuclear reactor being sealed NASSER KARIMI Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s deputy nuclear chief on Tuesday denied a report that the core of the country’s nearly finished heavy water reactor has been dismantled and filled it with concrete as part of Tehran’s obligations under the nuclear deal with the West. Ali Asghar Zarean, in remarks to state TV said that
Iran will first sign an agreement with China to modify the Arak reactor, a deal that is expected next week. “Definitely, we will not apply any physical change in this field until a final agreement is finalized,” Zarean added, without specifically mentioning the Fars news agency report. On Monday, Fars said that technicians had dismantled the core of the Arak
reactor and filled it with concrete. The agency, which is close to Iranian hard-liners, cited unnamed sources for the report. Under the landmark nuclear deal that commits Tehran to significant limits on its nuclear activities for over a decade in exchange for relief from crippling economic sanctions, Iran must redesign the Arak reactor
so it can’t produce plutonium for nuclear weapons — though it will still produce small amounts of plutonium and heavy water. Iran has insisted it needs the heavy water reactor for production of medical isotopes. Hard-liners in Iran, who oppose Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and the nuclear deal with world powers, argue that the so-
called “disabling” of Arak is a slap in the face of Iran and allegedly evidence of Rouhani having given too many concessions to the West in return to little. It’s not clear what the modification process at Arak will involve, but officials in the past have said that some parts of the reactor need to be filled with cements because of safety concerns.