British Prime Minister Tony Blair, ahead of a visit to Turkey today, said the European Union would start membership talks with the country if it met requirements on human rights and democracy by the end of the year, a newspaper reported in Ankara.

Two percussion bombs, which are loud but cause little damage, went off in front of two HSBC branches in Istanbul, shattering the bank windows.

A court in central Turkey has ordered the arrest of nine Turks believed to have received training at al-Qaida camps abroad.

The group which has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Madrid is believed to be affiliated to al-Qaida.

A suicide bomb attack by two suspected Islamic militants on an Istanbul Masonic lodge which killed one person and wounded five others was not believed to be the work of al-Qaida, blamed for a series of suicide bombings in the city last year, authorities said.

The bodies of the two British diplomats killed in last week’s suicide bomb attack against the British Consulate were flown home today after a sombre ceremony at Istanbul’s international airport.

More terrorist attacks may be “imminent” in the Turkish cities of Istanbul and Ankara, the Foreign Office warned today.

Several suspected accomplices of the suicide bombers who struck in Istanbul last week were expected to be brought before a court to face charges today, a leading Turkish newspaper reported.

The terrorist bombings that stunned Turkey have not diminished the Muslim nation’s resolve to move closer to the West, the prime minister has said.

US PRESIDENT George W Bush said last night Turkey had become a battleground in the “war on terror” as police made their first arrests in the deadly truck bomb attacks on British targets in Istanbul.

Britain must beef up security at its embassies and consulates worldwide in line with the fortress mentality adopted by the United States, or risk further deadly attacks like the bomb blast in Turkey, security analysts said Friday.

Turkish police have arrested number of men who are suspected of involvement in the deadly suicide bombings on the British consulate and a London-based bank that were blamed on al-Qaida.

Turkish investigators arrested an undisclosed number of suspects in Istanbul today in the deadly suicide bombings on the British consulate and a London-based bank in which 27 people died and more than 450 were injured.

Rescue workers and investigators were today sifting through the wreckage of the British consulate and a London-based bank blasted by suspected al-Qaida suicide bombers who killed at least 27 people in Istanbul.

Seven people were being questioned over the British consulate and HSBC bombings, a leading Turkish newspaper said today

SUSPECTED al-Qaida suicide bombers targeted British interests in Istanbul yesterday, killing at least 27 people including the British consul, and leaving more than 450 injured in twin attacks.

SHATTERED bodies and rubble were once more strewn across the streets of Turkey's commercial capital Istanbul yesterday, in a strike against Britain that US and British leaders called a challenge to their war on terror.

Suspected al-Qaida suicide bombers targeted Istanbul again today, killing at least 27 people including the British consul, and leaving more than 450 injured in twin attacks.

Explosions hit the British Consulate and the Turkish headquarters of the London-based HSBC bank in Istanbul today, killing at least 26 people and wounding more than 400.

The British Consul General in Istanbul was killed in today’s bomb attacks, witnesses said today.