Qaeda Link To Turk Bombs Unclear

Two Turkish suicide bombers and their Turkish accomplices who sympathized with and may have worked for the al Qaeda terrorist network carried out weekend synagogue attacks, Turkey's foreign minister told The Associated Press.

"It will be determined whether these people worked directly with al Qaeda or are just sympathizers," Abdullah Gul said by telephone from Stockholm, Sweden.

"The first impression is that these people seemed to have the same mindset of al Qaeda, they have the same concept, they are from the same school."

Gul confirmed that two Turks drove the explosive-laden trucks that blew up Saturday outside the Neve Shalom and Beth Israel synagogues in Istanbul, killing 23 people and the two drivers.

"Two Turks carried out the suicide attacks, but there were other Turks involved, too," Gul said.

The probe into the synagogue attacks has focused on whether to blame local attackers, al Qaeda or a partnership of the two. The question has political overtones, according to published reports: an international link would justify helping the U.S. war on terrorism, while a local emphasis could prove uncomfortable for the Islamist party that heads the Turkish government.

Like Afghanistan, Turkey is predominantly Muslim but not Arab. Most Turks consider bin Laden a criminal but a few hard-line Muslims support him. Muslim fighters from Turkey are known to have fought in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya.

A group linked to al Qaeda has claimed responsibility in the twin suicide bombings, although the claims have yet to be authenticated.

A notebook containing instructions in Turkish on how to carry out suicide bombings found in a deserted al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan was the first, solid evidence of a link between Turkish militant Islamic groups and Osama bin Laden's terrorist network.

The handwritten notes, found in the Darunta training camp near the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, were apparently taken during a class and include a section on how someone on a motorcycle can assassinate a person riding in a car as well as details of how to carry out suicide bombings, Turkish media have reported.

Since the manual was found in late 2001, Turkish authorities have been on the trail of possible links between local extremist Islamic groups and al Qaeda.

Links between Turkish militants and al Qaeda are strong, said Ziad Abdelnour, an international terrorism expert.

"The ties are both broad and deep," Abdelnour said. "Al Qaeda is known to have extensive relationships with every militant Islamic grouping in the world; whether in Turkey or elsewhere."

But an outlawed Turkish radical Islamic group called the Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front (IBDA-C) also claimed responsibility for the synagogue bombings.

The Raiders, extremely anti-Semitic and anti-Christian, have been active since the mid-1970s. It has become extremely violent in the past decade, staging bloody attacks in big cities and assassinating pro-secular intellectuals with handmade bombs.

Turkish authorities disputed the claim, saying the attack was too sophisticated to be carried out by that group.

But domestic terrorism bloodying Turkey has spanned decades. Kurdish and leftist militants have carried out numerous suicide bombings in big cities.

"Turkish leaders very much underestimate what their local groups along with al Qaeda backing and support can do," said Abdelnour. "The attacks happened in Turkey because al Qaeda and their local allies identified a weakness in security out there and they jumped on the opportunity."

Police stormed Istanbul's main courthouse Tuesday to end a half-hour standoff with about two dozen Kurds who raided the building and took hostages to demand the release of imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said authorities fired tear gas canisters inside before detaining the unarmed protesters, who had occupied part of the courthouse in Istanbul's historic Sultanahmet Square.

On Sunday, police arrested two suspected Kurdish suicide bombers who were believed to be plotting an attack on an Istanbul police station.

Ocalan was captured in 1999 and sentenced to death for waging a guerrilla war for autonomy in southeastern Turkey that claimed 37,000 lives. His sentence was later commuted to life in prison as Turkey abolished capital punishment amid legal changes to fulfill criteria for joining the European Union.

Ocalan — the sole detainee at the prison island of Imrali off Istanbul — is still president of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which changed its name Saturday to the Kurdistan People's Congress.

Ocalan's group has been branded a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department. Turkey has pressured the United States to crack down on the group's hideouts in northern Iraq.

Clashes between Turkish troops and Ocalan's PKK guerrillas died down in 1999 when the rebel group declared a unilateral cease-fire after 15 years of intense fighting. Turkey rejected the cease-fire, vowing to maintain its military crackdown until all rebels surrendered, were captured or killed. Sporadic clashes have continued.