Turkish PM vows to hunt down terror groups

Turkey’s prime minister has vowed to hunt down any accomplices of the militants who carried out a string of suicide bombings that killed 57 people and injured hundreds.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke yesterday before a crowd mourning two police officers killed in the attacks in Istanbul.

He said Turkish security forces and police had made rapid progress in the investigation into the attacks over the past week, identifying some of the Turks who carried out the strikes.

Any surviving conspirators would be caught, Erdogan said at the funeral service.

“Citizens with links abroad have carried out the attacks. Let’s hope that there are no others, but if there are, authorities are pursuing them and I am sure they will be caught,” he said.

At least three groups with purported links to al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the attacks. On Thursday bombings hit the British consulate and the London-based HSBC bank, killing 30 people.

Five days earlier, suicide bombers hit two synagogues, killing 25 people. Two suicide attackers also were killed on each day.

Most of the victims were Muslim Turks. Jewish leaders cancelled services across the country yesterday, the first Sabbath since the synagogue attacks.

Erdogan spoke yesterday with Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon by telephone, agreeing to co-operate in the fight on terrorism. The chief of Israel’s Mossad secret service agency reportedly travelled to Turkey this week following the attacks in an apparent expansion of co-ordination between the allies.

Turkey and Israel have built up strong military and trade ties. Now Turkey is seeking Israel’s expertise from more than 100 suicide bombings since September 2000 and knowledge on how to track Islamic militants.

Six people were arrested after the synagogue bombings. The daily Hurriyet newspaper said yesterday that 18 people were taken into custody late on Thursday, just hours after the near-simultaneous attacks at the consulate and the Turkish headquarters of HSBC.

Investigators had identified the car dealership that sold pick-up trucks used in the attacks, Hurriyet said, without giving further details. The trucks were packed with explosives and detonated once they reached their targets.

Turkey has placed its security forces on high alert and has ordered its anti-terrorism and intelligence agents to cancel holidays. Foreign governments, including the United States and Britain, cautioned that terrorists could strike again and issued travel warnings to their citizens.

US president George Bush called Turkey “a new front” in the war on terror on Friday and offered help in catching the perpetrators. Britain has sent anti-terrorism investigators to Turkey.