Many people would like to think of secular Turkey as the model for the Islamic world’s future. That’s also why it is a prime target. From CNN:
ISTANBUL, Turkey — Near-simultaneous explosions have hit two Istanbul hotels, killing one person, and another attack has unsuccessfully targeted gas tanks at a fuel storage depot, Turkish police and company officials said.
The blasts went off about 1:40 a.m. local time Tuesday (10.40 p.m. Monday GMT) at tourist hotels in two separate Istanbul neighborhoods.
Seven people were wounded in the blasts at the hotels, Istanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah said.
“It appears to be a terrorist attack,” Cerrah told Turkish state news agency Anatolia.
The fatality occurred at the Pars Hotel in Istanbul’s Laleli district, he said.
Workers at the Pars hotel said they received an anonymous call only 10 minutes before the explosion saying there was a bomb in a room, The Associated Press reports.
“There was a huge explosion and the glass started shattering,” said Umut Akgul, who was visiting a friend who works at the hotel.
Akgul said he ran to the back of the hotel and started to help evacuate tourists after the explosion, which ripped off the exterior walls of the top two floors of the hotel.