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CNN Live Saturday
2 Car Bombs Blast Through 2 Synagogues In Istanbul Today
Aired November 15, 2003 - 16:12 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.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is condemning two deadly bombings in Istanbul, Turkey. 20 people are dead and more than 250 others injured after explosions hit two different synagogues. Turkish authorities believe the attacks were coordinated by terrorists for maximum impact.
Our Chris Burns is In istanbul where more details are coming out. It's so tragic, Chris, I mean, in many ways a lot of those killed were passersby and not even ones who were in the synagogue.
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Andrea. And now the injury count is more than 300 at this point. 10 people still in the hospital, but 300 injured.
If you look over my shoulder you can get a bit of an idea, hopefully, of the devastation, the absolutely chilling devastation there. You might be able to see that gutted car back there in the background. The bomb in the car, the vehicle that went off, dug a hole that is two meters deep. That is about seven feet deep.
So the power and the strength of that explosion was unbelievable. And now investigators, police investigators are saying that the two bombs were very similar. They were minutes apart. They both were made of potassium chloride and sodium nitrate. They were both packed into station wagons and exploded.
And according here at the scene, there was a videotape, reportedly, that caught -- a surveillance videotape that caught on tape, on videotape, exactly what happened, it was a man who came with that station wagon, parked it outside, and moments later that explosion went off.
The authorities are now pointing not anymore to a domestic group. They are now saying that it could very well be an international group, possibly even al Qaeda. Here's the interior minister.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABDULKABIR AKSIL, TURKISH INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): Such an attack cannot be the job of an organization inside Turkey. But this is too early to say that. Every possibility is being considered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNS: Now authorities are also analyzing the bits, what's left of those two vehicles to see if they can glean any more clues from that. They will not say exactly who they believe was behind it or exactly what the motive was, but they are saying that they will continue looking into that.
No word of any detentions of anyone either. So it is wide open, exactly who was behind this, but it does appear, according to officials here, they do believe that it was not done by a domestic group, but some kind of an international organization. Back to you.
KOPPEL: Chris, did they get any idea whether or not they had any intelligence ahead of the attacks that might have prompted them at least to know in Turkey that there were any attacks that were being planned?
BURNS: Well, Andrea, we have no word that there was any sort of premonition or any kind of indications of an immpending attack. However, Turkish authorities are also very much watching and very much keeping tight security around Jewish institution.
In fact, this one did have very tight security. And that is why no one was able to really get into the grounds. They could only explode a car in the street and not actually get inside the grounds which are very closely guarded. Back to you.
KOPPEL: And we know that because two synagogues were attacked that the Israeli government is now saying they see this as an attack against the state of Israel. Chris Burns for us in Istanbul, Turkey. Thank you, Chris.
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 15, 2003 - 16:12 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is condemning two deadly bombings in Istanbul, Turkey. 20 people are dead and more than 250 others injured after explosions hit two different synagogues. Turkish authorities believe the attacks were coordinated by terrorists for maximum impact.
Our Chris Burns is In istanbul where more details are coming out. It's so tragic, Chris, I mean, in many ways a lot of those killed were passersby and not even ones who were in the synagogue.
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Andrea. And now the injury count is more than 300 at this point. 10 people still in the hospital, but 300 injured.
If you look over my shoulder you can get a bit of an idea, hopefully, of the devastation, the absolutely chilling devastation there. You might be able to see that gutted car back there in the background. The bomb in the car, the vehicle that went off, dug a hole that is two meters deep. That is about seven feet deep.
So the power and the strength of that explosion was unbelievable. And now investigators, police investigators are saying that the two bombs were very similar. They were minutes apart. They both were made of potassium chloride and sodium nitrate. They were both packed into station wagons and exploded.
And according here at the scene, there was a videotape, reportedly, that caught -- a surveillance videotape that caught on tape, on videotape, exactly what happened, it was a man who came with that station wagon, parked it outside, and moments later that explosion went off.
The authorities are now pointing not anymore to a domestic group. They are now saying that it could very well be an international group, possibly even al Qaeda. Here's the interior minister.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABDULKABIR AKSIL, TURKISH INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): Such an attack cannot be the job of an organization inside Turkey. But this is too early to say that. Every possibility is being considered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNS: Now authorities are also analyzing the bits, what's left of those two vehicles to see if they can glean any more clues from that. They will not say exactly who they believe was behind it or exactly what the motive was, but they are saying that they will continue looking into that.
No word of any detentions of anyone either. So it is wide open, exactly who was behind this, but it does appear, according to officials here, they do believe that it was not done by a domestic group, but some kind of an international organization. Back to you.
KOPPEL: Chris, did they get any idea whether or not they had any intelligence ahead of the attacks that might have prompted them at least to know in Turkey that there were any attacks that were being planned?
BURNS: Well, Andrea, we have no word that there was any sort of premonition or any kind of indications of an immpending attack. However, Turkish authorities are also very much watching and very much keeping tight security around Jewish institution.
In fact, this one did have very tight security. And that is why no one was able to really get into the grounds. They could only explode a car in the street and not actually get inside the grounds which are very closely guarded. Back to you.
KOPPEL: And we know that because two synagogues were attacked that the Israeli government is now saying they see this as an attack against the state of Israel. Chris Burns for us in Istanbul, Turkey. Thank you, Chris.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
