New terror alert warning for Turkey

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

The warning came as nine suspected accomplices of suicide bombers who killed 30 people in attacks on British targets in Istanbul were charged with membership of an illegal organisation.

Following the attacks on the British consulate and the local headquarters of the HSBC Bank, the Foreign Office warned against all but the most essential travel to Istanbul and other Turkish cities.

Revised advice issued overnight now warns: “We have information to suggest that further attacks may be imminent in Istanbul and Ankara.”

The new advice warned that symbols of western states, including the UK, may be targeted by terrorists.

It stated: “We urge you to be vigilant in all parts of the country, and especially in the vicinity of potential terrorist targets.

“Past examples… suggest that sites which symbolise the political, religious and economic values of western countries, including the UK, are particularly at risk, although symbols of the Turkish state have also been subject to terrorist attack in the past on a smaller scale.”

The advice also said that the bomb-damaged Istanbul consulate would be “unable to provide the full range of services” until further notice.

At least three Britons, including consul-general Roger Short, died in last Thursday’s attacks, which were carried out by suicide bombers driving trucks loaded with explosives. More than 450 people were injured.

The attacks followed blasts at two synagogues in Istanbul on November 15.

Today’s charges are the first to be brought in relation to the atrocities and carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Defying police restrictions on reporting investigations into the outrages, Turkey’s Milliyet newspaper claimed detectives had used DNA samples to confirm the consulate bomber was Feridun Ugurlu, a Turk believed to have fought with Islamic extremists in Chechnya and Afghanistan.

The Turkish media also claimed police believed the HSBC bomber was Azad Ekinci, another Islamic radical.

They and the two men responsible for the synagogue attacks are all thought to have come from the city of Bingol in south-east Turkey, 600 miles from Istanbul.

Turkish police have seized computer hard-drives from an Internet café in Bingol which is thought to have been run by one of the bomber’s brothers.

Members of a team of Scotland Yard anti-terrorist branch detectives, who travelled to Turkey in the wake of the bombings, are also focusing on Bingol, where the synagogue bombers were buried over the weekend.

The British police team are also keen to question some of 18 people, thought to include relatives and friends of the bombers, taken to court in Istanbul yesterday.

The body of Scottish-born Nanette Kurma, one of the British victims of Thursday’s attacks, was flown home yesterday.

Mrs Kurma, a former airline worker from Drongan, Ayrshire, had married a Turkish businessman and had three children from a previous marriage.

The bodies of two other British victims – Mr Short and his personal assistant Lisa Hallworth – are expected to be flown home to Britain later this week.

German police have closed the street leading to the British embassy in Berlin to traffic in a drive to increase security at the site following last week’s fatal bombings in Turkey.

A Berlin police spokesman said the decision was taken for “security reasons” but did not relate to a specific threat.

A British Foreign Office spokesman said: “It’s nothing to worry about. They do this on a regular basis whenever there is any kind of security concern.

“The street remains open to pedestrians and the embassy is still open for business as usual.”

The spokesman said Britain's Foreign Office still had no plans to close embassies in response to the bombings in Istanbul.