Nine of the ten people killed were German tourists. “The bomber who carried out the attack in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet district was a 28-year-old Syrian national.” Here’s a great idea: let’s bring hundreds of thousands of Syrian nationals to Europe and the U.S., without any way to determine if any of them are jihadis.
“10 dead, 15 wounded in Istanbul tourist district explosion,” by Lefteris Pitarakis and Suzan Fraser, Associated Press, January 12, 2016:
ISTANBUL (AP) — A suicide bomber affiliated with the Islamic State group detonated a bomb in a historic district of Istanbul popular with tourists Tuesday morning, killing at least 10 people — nine of them German tourists — and wounding 15 others, Turkish officials said.
The bomber who carried out the attack in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet district was a 28-year-old Syrian national, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the perpetrator was a member of IS and pledged to battle the militant group until it no longer “remains a threat” to Turkey or the world.
Turkey’s state-run news agency said Davutoglu held a telephone conversation with German chancellor Angela Merkel to express his condolences. A senior government official confirmed that most of the victims were German. Merkel had earlier said they were part of a German travel group.
“I strongly condemn the terror incident that occurred in Istanbul, at the Sultanahmet Square, and which has been assessed as being an attack by a Syria-rooted suicide bomber,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
It was unclear whether the death toll of 10 included the alleged bomber.
Merkel, speaking at a news conference in Berlin, decried the attack.
“Today Istanbul was hit; Paris has been hit, Tunisia has been hit, Ankara has been hit before,” she said. “International terrorism is once again showing its cruel and inhuman face today.”
The explosion, which could be heard from several neighborhoods, was at a park that is home to a landmark obelisk, some 25 meters (yards) from the historic Blue Mosque.
Turkey’s Dogan news agency reported that one Norwegian and one Peruvian were also among the wounded, and Seoul’s Foreign Ministry told reporters via text message that a South Korean had a finger injury. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry told news agency NTB that the Norwegian tourist was slightly hurt and was being treated in a local hospital.
Kurtulmus, the deputy premier, said two of the wounded were in serious condition.
Germany and Denmark have warned their citizens to avoid crowds outside tourist attractions in Istanbul.
Last year, Turkey agreed to take a more active role in the U.S.-led battle against the IS group. Turkey opened its bases to U.S. aircraft to launch air raids on the extremist group in Syria and has carried out a limited number of strikes on the group itself.
It has also moved to tighten security along its 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Syria in a bid to stem the flow of militants.
The attack comes at a time of heightened violence between Turkey’s security forces and militants linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in the country’s mostly-Kurdish southeast.
The country is also dealing with more than 2 million Syrian refugees and a wave of migrants from Syria and other countries pouring across Turkey to Europe.
Police sealed the area, barring people from approaching in case of a second explosion, and a police helicopter hovered overhead.
The Sultanahmet neighborhood is Istanbul’s main sightseeing area and includes the Topkapi Palace and the former Byzantine church of Haghia Sophia, now a museum….

Adrian says
and don’t the German citizens love to greet all the newly arriving Syrian refugees with flowers and well wishes?
Caroline says
There is no appeasing the Religion of Peace. All the flowers and teddy bears in the world will not do it.
Atheist7 says
Caroline. Just a note. Remember, when dealing with Teddy Bears, never name your Teddy Bear Muhammad – even if the kids in you class think that it would be a cool idea. That is because naming a Teddy Bear Muhammad is an insult to Islam and that calls for the death penalty.
Oliver says
To Adrian,
I saw a video where there were loads of Germans at a train station, with signs, reading (in English & German) WELCOME REFUGEES.
And, wasn’t Turkey helping ISIS just a few months ago?
And fighting ( and killing and bombing Kurds) who seem to be, besides the Russians, really fighting TO WIN against ISIS.
(Iran & Hezbollah- a terrorist state and a terrorist group) seem to be having defections and desertions. And going to GERMANY for the freebies. (After selling their pot). (smoking kind).
A shame however, that those killed weren’t Muslims and terrorists and their sympathizers.
Just my views
robert says
i agree-canada will be the next target for these terroists, our prime minister and his cabinet will go down in history as the government that made a big mistake and brought our country turmoil.
gravenimage says
Those killed weren’t Muslims or terrorists because this Jihadist was targeting innocent Infidel tourists.
Oliver says
They were Germans- and (a) Germany murdered 6 million Jews and millions of others, so I have no tears fro them and (b) they ( the Germans) are welcoming thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of Muslims into their country.
‘DRY BONES” an Israeli political cartoon ( free)- this week had a cartoon- Europeans don’t have to go to the Muddle East to fight Muslim extremism. Basically, it si coming to a them (in Europe).
Atheist7 says
A problem is that we do not know what percentage of refugees are radicalized or radicalizable. Is it 1/1000, and if so, if we allow 300,000 refugees in, how many of them want to kill you? and how many people can a single radical kill? and that is just violent jihad. For slow jihad, the refugees come in and set up their own mini-state. Then money, like blood to a cancer, flows into the mini-state. This allows the refugee families to have many children to further increase the number of Muslims. So the people of the country, through their own tax dollars, support the growth of Islam within their country.
Would it be of any value to attempt to educate people that when Islam invades a country, it does not merge with the culture of that country? Instead, eventually, Islam replaces the culture of the country.
Matthieu Baudin says
So everyone now knows without a shadow of a doubt, that the new Caliphate has exported terrorists through the refugee stream into Turkey and also onwards into the heart of Europe. The question now is just how many have already successfully infiltrated and how many are preparing to follow in due course.
Could it be time to lower our expectations, accept a higher incidence of murder and mayhem in the streets, just as we’re being encouraged to learn to live with the violent rape of our granddaughters.
T Ross says
Well, don’t be so fast in believing the Turks. This well may be a false flag operation. Turkey’s support for IS (training camps, logistics, weapons supply, financing) is very well documented, and this slaughter of 10 German Kafirs by a suggested IS-related Syrian may only boost Erdogan’s propaganda and enable the old hypocritical frog Merkel to croak that Turkey is the same victim of IS as the West. In Turkey itself, there is complete blackout on information re this blast except the censored version of the government. I personally relate the bomb to MIT more than to IS.
Matthieu Baudin says
Good points, thanks T Ross.
Oliver says
What is MIT?
And, in an earlier post, I asked, wasn’t Turkey aiding ISIS just a few months ago?
I don’t trust any Muslim, especially Turks, Syrians and Iranians. Just my views.
dragaozao says
Was IS responsible? Probably… But coming from Turkey I wouldn’t bet my money on it. With a president that loves Hitler and considers him a model, with a president that acuses Russia of being responsible for the worsening of the situation in the midlle east, with a president that considerers every oposition terrorism and with the excuse of fighting it atacks the Kurds and the independent media in his own country, that invades Irak without permission, and risks draging NATO to a confrontation with Russia, that, at the least, closes his eyes to the oil traffic with IS, I wouldn’t be surprise if this atack was a turkish creation just to justify other policies. Yes, I know this is just a conspiracy theory and has no basis. But, coming from that man… I only say I wouldn’t risk a bet.
Hugh says
There will be no peace on this earth until Istanbul becomes Constantinople again.
mortimer says
Merkel said, ““International terrorism is once again showing its cruel and inhuman face today.”
NO!
ISLAMIC terrorism is once again showing its cruel and inhuman face today.
citycat says
I was chatting, a few weeks ago, with an atheist apostate muslim who runs the local store.
He’s from Kurdistan.
He said that at one time there were several religions there. All was OK. Then Islam turned up.
Atheist7 says
citycat. As I have said, “When Islam invades a country, it eventually replaces the indigenous culture with the culture of Islam”. From a military standpoint, ISIS can be defeated. I do not fear ISIS. What I fear is Islam itself.
Oliver says
Some years ago, a friend of mine had to go to Kansas City, Kansas on business. This friend is an ultra -Orthodox Jewish man, with a yanulka, has a beard, etc. His cab driver was a Kurd. The Kurdish man told my friend- that the model that Kurds want for their state is Israel, where all can practice their religion.
All can -within bounds, of course- try to do what they think is best fro themselves and their families ( as far as education; work, etc). And the Turks; Syrians; Iranians etc want to stop that-afraid that their people will see people who are happy and satisfied. ( And that was before the Syrian “civil war” where most of the fighters are from elsewhere.
Baucent says
A bomb attack in one of Turkey’s main tourist areas was designed with two purposes in mind, kill infidels and destroy Turkey’s tourism industry. That most of the dead are Germans could see tourists from that country cancelling bookings. This strategy is similar to what Egypt faces. The ultimate aim is destablizing the countries by ruining the economy either as revenge for supporting the Western powers or open up opportunity for Jihadist takeover.
Jay Boo says
It will probably backfire with leftist Germans flocking to Turkey to prove that they are not going to let Islamophobia interfere with their desire to make friends with Muslims.
Jay Boo says
Feeding Time
(TOURISTS) are the favorite food for the (TERRORISTS) at the Islam zoo.
Walter Sieruk says
This heinous action of evil and madness of another jihad suicide/homicide bombing attack in Istanbul is yet another example of the blind and irrational faith that murderous jihadist terrorist had in the promises found in the Koran ,44:54. 55:56. 78:31.of some kind of brothel with many houris for him if he dies fighting for the cause of Islam. This faith in Islam with its Koran is a faith that is based in strong emotions and powerful feelings and not a faith based on logic and reason. This is a reminder of that Benjamin Franklin had printed in POOR RICHARD’S ALMANACK which reads “The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.”