Turkey 'targeted over ideology'

Security has been stepped up in Istanbul

Turkey's foreign minister says the country may have been targeted because of its attempts to prove that Islam and democracy are compatible.

More than 50 people in Istanbul have died in four blasts in the last week.

"We are upgrading our democracy, we are trying to prove that a Muslim country can be democratic... This may disturb some people," Abdullah Gul said.

His comments came as the US issued a warning that its interests abroad were now more likely to be attacked.

Security in Istanbul was stepped up after bombs at the UK consulate and a British bank.Suicide bombers killed 27 people and injured more than 400 in Thursday's attacks.

All police leave has been cancelled and security boosted at shopping malls, stations, mosques and other venues.

I told him [Turkish PM] my prayers are with his people. I told him we would work with him to defeat terror President George Bush

Mr Gul said that several arrests had been made, but did not confirm reports in a Turkish paper that said seven people were being quizzed.

Britain and the US have warned their citizens of further attacks in Turkey.

The BBC's Tim Franks, in Istanbul, says the growing list of organisations claiming responsibility for the bombings suggest that there is appetite for more violence.

One militant Islamist group has reportedly said that Turkey had been chosen for its links to the US and Israel and that its "cars of death" will not stop.

Soldiers are reported to have been deployed in some areas to assist the police.

Anti-terrorist squad

The latest attacks came less than a week after 25 people were killed when two synagogues were hit in Istanbul.

Amid fears of more violence some foreign companies were sending their local staff back home on Friday, while arrangements are being made for expatriate workers to leave the country if they wish.

Click below for a more detailed map of the blast sites

Enlarge Map

A number of funerals of Turkish victims were held in Istanbul on Friday.

Meanwhile, the National Security Council of military and political leaders discussed the attacks.

Newspaper reports said they considered a report linking some 1,000 Turkish men - who fought in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya - to training with al Qaeda.

US President George Bush said he had spoken earlier on Friday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"I told him my prayers are with his people. I told him we would work with him to defeat terror," Mr Bush said.

Turkish and UK officials have already said Thursday's attacks bore the hallmarks of al-Qaeda and its associates.

Among the secular and moderate Islamic circles, some see the motive behind the attacks as a message to Britain, the USA and Israel, our correspondents say.

Others believe it is an attempt by the fundamentalists to destroy Turkey's unique secular system.

Rubble

Earlier on Friday, Mr Gul's UK counterpart, Jack Straw toured the HSBC headquarters, the first building to be hit.

"This is an attack on civilisation," Mr Straw said as he picked his way through the rubble, describing the blasts as the work of "ruthless fanatics."

Mr Straw added that the bombings had increased the ties between the UK and Turkey.

"Far from this hurting Turkey's application to join the European Union, it will increase the determination of all of us to see Turkey a full member of the European Union," he said.

Groups claim attacks

A van is believed to have exploded near the HSBC building, devastating its facade.

Minutes later, another van crashed through the gates of the British consulate and blew up, killing 16 people, among them the UK Consul-General Roger Short.

The blasts coincided with a visit to the UK by President George W Bush.

WHO ARE AL-MASRI BRIGADES? Named after Bin Laden's brother-in-law Claimed responsibility for attack on UN in Iraq Also said they were behind blasts in Kenya and Turkey Statements impossible to verify, some commentators sceptical Al-Qaeda timeline

An unconfirmed report said a group linked to al-Qaeda, calling itself Abu Hafz al-Masri Brigades, had issued a statement claiming responsibility for the blasts.

A man had earlier called the semi-official Anatolia news agency in Turkey to say al-Qaeda and the Turkish Islamic militant group IBDA-C had jointly carried out the attacks.

Both groups had said they were behind the synagogue blasts.

The Foreign Office warned British citizens against travel not only to Istanbul, but to all of the country's other major cities, including the capital Ankara.

The US State Department has closed its consulate in Istanbul and warned its citizens to stay away form the area where the bombings took place.

But Turkey's tourism minister appealed to foreign tour operators to stay calm.

The country - still recovering from its worst economic crisis for 50 years - is worried about the economic consequences of the explosions.

The Foreign Office in London issued the following number for people to call for information about those who may have been involved in the blasts: 020 7008 0000.