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Terrorism in Turkey; Bush Protests

Aired November 20, 2003 - 13:06   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Turkey's prime minister standing firm against terrorism after the worst terrorist bombings in that nation's history. More than two dozen people killed, hundreds of others wounded, as bombs ripped through the prominent British sites.
CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now live from Istanbul with the latest -- Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Kyra.

Yes, I'm standing outside the HSBC building here, you can see, in the heart of the financial district. It would have been an extremely busy area at the time of the bomb, 10:00 in the morning. If I just step to one side, so you can see exactly what the damage is. This was a white marble and blue window facade. You can see exactly what it is now. So many police here. There's probably between about 50 and 60 police, and forensic experts. What they're doing now is the painstaking task of sifting through all the rubble to find any indication of what caused this blast. This is a suspected car bomb, but authorities are not confirming that at the moment.

Now, the latest news we do have is the death toll unfortunately is rising, 27 at the moment. The Interior Minister Abdul Khadr Aksu (ph) has confirmed another body has been found at the British consulate, the second area of the bombing here, just about four kilometers from where we are at the HSBC building.

We're also hearing that the U.K. Foreign Minister Jack Straw is likely to come here tonight. The U.K. foreign ministry not confirming that, but the foreign minister of Turkey has confirmed to CNN he will meet with his U.K. counterpart, so we're expecting him here at some point this evening. We also had a speech from the prime minister earlier on, urging Turks to remain calm. There's a lot of shock, there's a lot of panic in the city, as you can imagine, this coming so soon after the synagogue bombs on Saturday. So what the forensic scientists are doing at the moment -- and it's cordoned off -- they are trying to find any sort of indication of exactly who is responsible.

Officials not giving any indication who have is responsible. But the interior minister did say these attacks were almost identical to the attacks that we had on Saturday at the synagogues -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Paula Hancock, live from Istanbul. Thank you -- Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In London, meanwhile, President Bush and British Prime Minister Blair stood side by side condemning the attacks and vowing to stay the course in Iraq.

CNN's John king traveling with the president, join us live now.

Hello, John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Miles.

The Istanbul explosions obviously adding a great sense of urgency to the discussions between President Bush and Prime Minister Blair. The war on terrorism was topic No. 1 to begin with.

But as you noted, both leaders not only voicing there condolences, but also vowing that they would not, as Mr. Blair put it, flinch in the face of this latest round of terrorism. He called it a terrorist outrage. And one thing the president said was critical now was pressing on with the mission with Iraq. He said a thriving democracy in Iraq would be one way to deter terrorism in the Middle East, and there's a great bit of skepticism here about Mr. Bush. He said the United States and its allies will finish the mission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Our mission in Iraq is noble and it is necessary. No act of thugs or killers will change our resolve or alter their fate. A free Iraq will be free of them. We will finish the job we have begun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now Mr. Bush's visit here quite controversial. Many believe Mr. Blair is making a mistake, standing so close to Mr. Bush in the war on terrorism. Some even making the suggestion we have seen the increase in the terrorist attacks because of the war in Iraq, because some say Mr. Bush is provoking the terrorists. Mr. Blair bristling at a news conference when that was suggesting. The question being asked, is Britain being targeted today because of his close alliance with Mr. Bush? Mr. Blair says that's preposterous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Let us be very clear, America did not attack al Qaeda on September 11th; al Qaeda attacked America, and in doing so attacked not just America, but the way of life of all people who believe in tolerance and freedom, justice and peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: So the two leaders, comparing note, promising to finish the job in Iraq, obviously voicing condolences and offering any support they can for this latest investigation. And, Miles, this is an official state visit by the president to London. The president will return the favor tonight, a dinner in the queen's honor. And then Mr. Bush finishes his trip tomorrow by traveling to northern England to visit Prime Minister Blair's home district -- Miles. O'BRIEN: CNN's John King with the president. Thank you very much -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: In the meantime, a sea of people flooding London streets, chanting, or beating drums, protesting the U.S. and British actions in Iraq.

CNN's Christiane Amanpour joining us now live from the scene -- Christiane.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, even before the bombings in Istanbul on British targets there, this visit by the U.S. president to Britain has been very controversial. There have been protests yesterday and today.

I'm going to step just out of the way so you can see the number of people who've converged on Trafalgar Square. It's dark, obviously. Night has fallen, but there are, certainly some tens of thousands of people out here, protesting not only the war in Iraq, but also President Bush and the Bush administration's foreign policy, declaring they do not like and are not comfortable with what they perceive to be a unilateralist foreign policy that has war as a central platform.

In an echo of what happened in Baghdad April 9th, they toppled a statue, an effigy, of President Bush. Now that happened amid great, great, great cheers here. But it will come with some discomfort among some people in England. They felt that even though they supported these protests and supported the demonstrators, that some people felt toppling that statue was perhaps going a little too far and they were not comfortable drawing a parallel between the tyrant George -- rather, Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and the president of the United States, George Bush.

People have been saying here all along that these demonstrations and protests are designed to be, if not light-hearted, then at least nonviolent and peaceful. They are meant to poke fun and bluntly show a sizable number of British people's disagreement and disaffection with the Bush administration's foreign policy.

And to charges that they are just showing sort of fashionable anti-Americanism, as Prime Minister Blair said, well, the British and many pundits have responded that it's not about anti-Americanism. As we've been reporting, polls show they value their alliance, they value America as a friend, it's more that they are saying they are anti- Bush.

Now what about people who may be welcoming President Bush? Well, there simply haven't been those numbers of people in any form or fashion on the streets, partly because President Bush has essentially been sealed in this security bubble, as they call it, the U.S. secret service. And people have not been able to see them. So there has been None of the traditional flag-waving or cheering on the street. Those who are not protesting seem essentially indifferent. And this, of course, in the country that is America's closest ally and that President Bush just called America's closest friend in the world -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: Christiane Amanpour, live from London, 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 20, 2003 - 13:06   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Turkey's prime minister standing firm against terrorism after the worst terrorist bombings in that nation's history. More than two dozen people killed, hundreds of others wounded, as bombs ripped through the prominent British sites.
CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now live from Istanbul with the latest -- Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Kyra.

Yes, I'm standing outside the HSBC building here, you can see, in the heart of the financial district. It would have been an extremely busy area at the time of the bomb, 10:00 in the morning. If I just step to one side, so you can see exactly what the damage is. This was a white marble and blue window facade. You can see exactly what it is now. So many police here. There's probably between about 50 and 60 police, and forensic experts. What they're doing now is the painstaking task of sifting through all the rubble to find any indication of what caused this blast. This is a suspected car bomb, but authorities are not confirming that at the moment.

Now, the latest news we do have is the death toll unfortunately is rising, 27 at the moment. The Interior Minister Abdul Khadr Aksu (ph) has confirmed another body has been found at the British consulate, the second area of the bombing here, just about four kilometers from where we are at the HSBC building.

We're also hearing that the U.K. Foreign Minister Jack Straw is likely to come here tonight. The U.K. foreign ministry not confirming that, but the foreign minister of Turkey has confirmed to CNN he will meet with his U.K. counterpart, so we're expecting him here at some point this evening. We also had a speech from the prime minister earlier on, urging Turks to remain calm. There's a lot of shock, there's a lot of panic in the city, as you can imagine, this coming so soon after the synagogue bombs on Saturday. So what the forensic scientists are doing at the moment -- and it's cordoned off -- they are trying to find any sort of indication of exactly who is responsible.

Officials not giving any indication who have is responsible. But the interior minister did say these attacks were almost identical to the attacks that we had on Saturday at the synagogues -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Paula Hancock, live from Istanbul. Thank you -- Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In London, meanwhile, President Bush and British Prime Minister Blair stood side by side condemning the attacks and vowing to stay the course in Iraq.

CNN's John king traveling with the president, join us live now.

Hello, John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Miles.

The Istanbul explosions obviously adding a great sense of urgency to the discussions between President Bush and Prime Minister Blair. The war on terrorism was topic No. 1 to begin with.

But as you noted, both leaders not only voicing there condolences, but also vowing that they would not, as Mr. Blair put it, flinch in the face of this latest round of terrorism. He called it a terrorist outrage. And one thing the president said was critical now was pressing on with the mission with Iraq. He said a thriving democracy in Iraq would be one way to deter terrorism in the Middle East, and there's a great bit of skepticism here about Mr. Bush. He said the United States and its allies will finish the mission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Our mission in Iraq is noble and it is necessary. No act of thugs or killers will change our resolve or alter their fate. A free Iraq will be free of them. We will finish the job we have begun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now Mr. Bush's visit here quite controversial. Many believe Mr. Blair is making a mistake, standing so close to Mr. Bush in the war on terrorism. Some even making the suggestion we have seen the increase in the terrorist attacks because of the war in Iraq, because some say Mr. Bush is provoking the terrorists. Mr. Blair bristling at a news conference when that was suggesting. The question being asked, is Britain being targeted today because of his close alliance with Mr. Bush? Mr. Blair says that's preposterous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Let us be very clear, America did not attack al Qaeda on September 11th; al Qaeda attacked America, and in doing so attacked not just America, but the way of life of all people who believe in tolerance and freedom, justice and peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: So the two leaders, comparing note, promising to finish the job in Iraq, obviously voicing condolences and offering any support they can for this latest investigation. And, Miles, this is an official state visit by the president to London. The president will return the favor tonight, a dinner in the queen's honor. And then Mr. Bush finishes his trip tomorrow by traveling to northern England to visit Prime Minister Blair's home district -- Miles. O'BRIEN: CNN's John King with the president. Thank you very much -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: In the meantime, a sea of people flooding London streets, chanting, or beating drums, protesting the U.S. and British actions in Iraq.

CNN's Christiane Amanpour joining us now live from the scene -- Christiane.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, even before the bombings in Istanbul on British targets there, this visit by the U.S. president to Britain has been very controversial. There have been protests yesterday and today.

I'm going to step just out of the way so you can see the number of people who've converged on Trafalgar Square. It's dark, obviously. Night has fallen, but there are, certainly some tens of thousands of people out here, protesting not only the war in Iraq, but also President Bush and the Bush administration's foreign policy, declaring they do not like and are not comfortable with what they perceive to be a unilateralist foreign policy that has war as a central platform.

In an echo of what happened in Baghdad April 9th, they toppled a statue, an effigy, of President Bush. Now that happened amid great, great, great cheers here. But it will come with some discomfort among some people in England. They felt that even though they supported these protests and supported the demonstrators, that some people felt toppling that statue was perhaps going a little too far and they were not comfortable drawing a parallel between the tyrant George -- rather, Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and the president of the United States, George Bush.

People have been saying here all along that these demonstrations and protests are designed to be, if not light-hearted, then at least nonviolent and peaceful. They are meant to poke fun and bluntly show a sizable number of British people's disagreement and disaffection with the Bush administration's foreign policy.

And to charges that they are just showing sort of fashionable anti-Americanism, as Prime Minister Blair said, well, the British and many pundits have responded that it's not about anti-Americanism. As we've been reporting, polls show they value their alliance, they value America as a friend, it's more that they are saying they are anti- Bush.

Now what about people who may be welcoming President Bush? Well, there simply haven't been those numbers of people in any form or fashion on the streets, partly because President Bush has essentially been sealed in this security bubble, as they call it, the U.S. secret service. And people have not been able to see them. So there has been None of the traditional flag-waving or cheering on the street. Those who are not protesting seem essentially indifferent. And this, of course, in the country that is America's closest ally and that President Bush just called America's closest friend in the world -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: Christiane Amanpour, live from London, 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