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CNN Live At Daybreak
Terror in Turkey
Aired November 17, 2003 - 06:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the latest on the deadly synagogue bombings in Turkey, a claim of responsibility and perhaps some progress in tracking down the bombers.
Chris Burns live on the scene for us in Istanbul.
So, Chris Burns is not there yet. Oh, I see him now. Can we take him?
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi.
COSTELLO: Hi, Chris. Was al Qaeda to blame for this?
BURNS: I'd better switch, because we're...
COSTELLO: Go ahead, Chris.
BURNS: Was al Qaeda to blame for it? That is very much in question. Officials are not confirming that yet. There have been some claims of responsibility, but they have not yet been confirmed.
Take a look over my shoulder. That little bit of the frantic camera movement was because we have a ceremony going on here. If you look over my shoulder, there is a lot of heavy media coverage of this Jewish community here in Istanbul. It's about to unveil a statue in honor of the five Jews who died in these two bombings. That is about to be unveiled.
If you can sort of make out the detail of that heavy, heavy media coverage of that, just a few steps away from the Neve Shalom. That is the biggest synagogue here in the country, in fact, and that is where one of the explosions occurred.
Now, there will be funerals for those five victims coming tomorrow. One of those victims is actually missing. It's a grandmother who went missing, 85 years old, who was with her 9-year- old granddaughter who was killed in the blast. The grandmother's body is missing. But, anyway, those funerals are going to go ahead.
And (AUDIO GAP) responsibility (AUDIO GAP) a big question. The government is saying that there must be some kind of international involvement here, but exactly what it is, that's a big question. There appears to be domestic involvement, however, because investigators are saying that the two vehicles that were used belonged to Turks. And the families say they had nothing to do with the explosions, but they do have relatives who went missing in the last few days, ever since those explosions. So, it does appear there was some kind of a link on the ground. If there were connections to internationals, there was still some kind of a link on the ground. And that, of course, it could be worrisome for the government here that does have Muslim fundamentalist roots. But ever since it came to power, it has sought to show a moderate tone in its policies. As you can see, very, very close ties with the United States, with Israel, with the West.
So, this obviously is somewhat worrisome for the government, as they try to get to the bottom of exactly who and what the motive was behind these explosions -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes. Yes, and, Chris, while the ceremony goes on, I think many Americans see Turkey as a mostly Muslim nation, which it probably is. How big is the Jewish population within Turkey?
BURNS: The Jewish population is estimated somewhere around 30,000. It is not extremely large, but they have hundreds of years of a past here with this country. In fact, many of them came during the Spanish Inquisition 500 years ago. Many of them fled the Holocaust.
This country is very much Muslim, but it also has a very strongly secular government that respects all different religions and has shown very much to be a very close partner to, not only the United States, but to Israel. They have very deep military, economic ties.
So, that is a reason why many of the Jews here feel very much at home here, because they have hundreds of years of history here.
COSTELLO: All right, Chris Burns reporting live from Istanbul, Turkey. We'll let you cover the ceremony there in front of one of those synagogues that was bombed over the weekend.
BURNS: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired November 17, 2003 - 06:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the latest on the deadly synagogue bombings in Turkey, a claim of responsibility and perhaps some progress in tracking down the bombers.
Chris Burns live on the scene for us in Istanbul.
So, Chris Burns is not there yet. Oh, I see him now. Can we take him?
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi.
COSTELLO: Hi, Chris. Was al Qaeda to blame for this?
BURNS: I'd better switch, because we're...
COSTELLO: Go ahead, Chris.
BURNS: Was al Qaeda to blame for it? That is very much in question. Officials are not confirming that yet. There have been some claims of responsibility, but they have not yet been confirmed.
Take a look over my shoulder. That little bit of the frantic camera movement was because we have a ceremony going on here. If you look over my shoulder, there is a lot of heavy media coverage of this Jewish community here in Istanbul. It's about to unveil a statue in honor of the five Jews who died in these two bombings. That is about to be unveiled.
If you can sort of make out the detail of that heavy, heavy media coverage of that, just a few steps away from the Neve Shalom. That is the biggest synagogue here in the country, in fact, and that is where one of the explosions occurred.
Now, there will be funerals for those five victims coming tomorrow. One of those victims is actually missing. It's a grandmother who went missing, 85 years old, who was with her 9-year- old granddaughter who was killed in the blast. The grandmother's body is missing. But, anyway, those funerals are going to go ahead.
And (AUDIO GAP) responsibility (AUDIO GAP) a big question. The government is saying that there must be some kind of international involvement here, but exactly what it is, that's a big question. There appears to be domestic involvement, however, because investigators are saying that the two vehicles that were used belonged to Turks. And the families say they had nothing to do with the explosions, but they do have relatives who went missing in the last few days, ever since those explosions. So, it does appear there was some kind of a link on the ground. If there were connections to internationals, there was still some kind of a link on the ground. And that, of course, it could be worrisome for the government here that does have Muslim fundamentalist roots. But ever since it came to power, it has sought to show a moderate tone in its policies. As you can see, very, very close ties with the United States, with Israel, with the West.
So, this obviously is somewhat worrisome for the government, as they try to get to the bottom of exactly who and what the motive was behind these explosions -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes. Yes, and, Chris, while the ceremony goes on, I think many Americans see Turkey as a mostly Muslim nation, which it probably is. How big is the Jewish population within Turkey?
BURNS: The Jewish population is estimated somewhere around 30,000. It is not extremely large, but they have hundreds of years of a past here with this country. In fact, many of them came during the Spanish Inquisition 500 years ago. Many of them fled the Holocaust.
This country is very much Muslim, but it also has a very strongly secular government that respects all different religions and has shown very much to be a very close partner to, not only the United States, but to Israel. They have very deep military, economic ties.
So, that is a reason why many of the Jews here feel very much at home here, because they have hundreds of years of history here.
COSTELLO: All right, Chris Burns reporting live from Istanbul, Turkey. We'll let you cover the ceremony there in front of one of those synagogues that was bombed over the weekend.
BURNS: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
