Defence wraps up case in Istanbul bomb trial

Lawyers for suspected members of a Turkish al Qaida cell will make their closing arguments today in the Istanbul bombing trial.

Prosecutors have asked for life sentences for four Islamic militants among the group who are suspected of being the chief plotters of the November 2003 blasts in which four suicide bombers driving bomb-laden trucks killed 57 people.

The first of the attacks targeted the British Consulate and the local headquarters of the London-based HSBC bank. Five days later, assailants targeted two synagogues.

Several more hearings are expected before a verdict is reached. About 70 people are standing trial for the bombings.

In June, prosecutor Zekeriya Oz asked the court to sentence the four alleged ringleaders – Fevzi Yitiz, Adnan Ersoz, Yusuf Polat and Harun Ilhan – to life in prison.

Thirty-five others face between seven and 22 and a half years in prison for charges ranging from aiding and abetting terrorism to membership in a terrorist group. The prosecutor has asked the court to acquit the 31 others.

Prosecutors accuse Polat of giving the final go-ahead for the synagogue attacks and Yitiz for helping to build the truck bombs.

Ilhan described himself before the court as an “al Qaida warrior” and has been accused of helping to plan the bombings.

The attacks were said to be orchestrated by two other al Qaida members, Gurcan Bac and Habib Akdas, who left Turkey after the bombings. Akdas is said to have been killed fighting US forces in Iraq.

Ersoz acknowledged in his testimony that he helped arrange a 2001 meeting between Abu Hafs al-Masri, a former top lieutenant of Osama bin Laden, and Akdas.

Turkey recently sent an interrogation team to question two other suspects being held in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq after asking for their extradition in July.

Turkish authorities have warned of possible future attacks.

Earlier this month, police arrested two suspected al Qaida militants of Syrian origin, foiling alleged plans to ram a speedboat into a cruise ship carrying Israeli tourists.

Police said they seized chemicals and some explosives during a search of one of the suspect’s homes in the southern city of Antalya.

There is speculation that one of the suspects, Lu’ai Sakra, could have acted as a contact between al Qaida and the Turkish ring accused of carrying out the Istanbul bombings.

But Sakra, whose parents have Turkish origins and who speaks broken Turkish, was expected to be tried separately along with his alleged Syrian accomplice, Hamid Obysi.