Turkey leaders adopt defiant pose

Funerals began on Friday for the victims of the latest bombs

An influential body of political and military leaders in Turkey has issued a statement of defiance after the devastating attacks in Istanbul.

After a meeting on Friday, the National Security Council said Turkey's "determination" would not be defeated.

It also called for greater cross-border co-operation to fight terror.

More than 50 people have died in the four bombings after which the United States issued a fresh warning of possible attacks against US targets.

Turkish trade unions said they would hold a series of "peace protests" in major cities on Saturday, to express disgust at the attacks.

'New front'

The advisory Council met for over five hours on Friday.

"International terrorism will not achieve its aim in our country... in the face of the determination and solidarity of our state and people," it said in a statement.

But it also said an effective fight against terrorism required strengthened regional and global co-operation.

Iraq is a front. Turkey is a front. Anywhere the terrorists think they can strike is a front US President George Bush Turks brave new fears In pictures: Istanbul mourns

US President George W Bush has warned that the Istanbul bombings signalled a new battleground in the "war on terror".

"Terrorists have decided to use Turkey as a front," Mr Bush told reporters after speaking to the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"Iraq is a front. Turkey is a front. Anywhere the terrorists think they can strike is a front."

Mr Bush was in the UK at the time of Thursday's bombs, which struck a British-based bank, HSBC, and the British consulate on Thursday, killing at least 27 people.

The previous Saturday, at least 23 people died after synagogues in Istanbul were bombed.

Shock and fear

On Friday the funerals of several of the victims of Thursday's bombs took place, with more to come on Saturday.

Istanbul is still a city in shock, says our correspondent there Kim Ghattas.

She says the sites of the blasts are attracting people who have come to see the destruction for themselves, and many are fearful more attacks may be planned.

Click below for a more detailed map of the blast sites

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Some people, she says, have dubbed the deadly events of the last few days Turkey's own 11 September - linking the suicide attacks with those on New York and Washington in 2001.

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

"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.

Security in Istanbul was stepped up, with police leave cancelled and security boosted at shopping malls, stations, mosques and other venues.

Mr Gul said police made further arrests on Friday in their investigation of the bombings, but gave no further details.

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 have also said they were behind the synagogue blasts.

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.