Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Sunday Morning
Istanbul Police Detain 3 for Questioning About Bombing Attacks
Aired November 16, 2003 - 08:01 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's follow up now on the back-to- back bombings in Turkey. Police in Istanbul have detained three people for questioning about the twin bombing attacks outside two synagogues there. Andrew Finkel is on the scene as the investigation continues this morning.
Andrew, good morning to you.
ANDREW FINKEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. It's been a day of fairly intense activity. I was standing in front of Neve Shalom, one of the synagogues where there was a massive explosion yesterday morning.
Now, there's been a fair amount of high-level political activity now in front of this synagogue. A visit here earlier in the day from the Turkish prime minister. He cut short a trip to northern Cypress in order to show a presence, to show Turkish concern, to show solidarity with the Turkish Jewish community.
He wasn't the only visitor here. We had the Israeli foreign minister as well, Silvan Shalom. He came here, also again to also express his country's solidarity with the Turkish Jewish community, the 25,000 Jews who still live in Istanbul.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SILVAN SHALOM, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER: I would like to say that we have full confidence with the Turkish government that they will do everything that is needed. We are cooperating with all the democracies around the world, and Turkey is a very important country in this region. And I'm sure that they will know more than anyone else how to deal with these terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FINKEL: The other thing that has become apparent during the course of the day is the sheer viciousness of the explosion, the sheer viciousness of the attacks. Now, they occurred in the morning on a Saturday morning when the Jewish community was at prayer. Neve Shalom Synagogue, the synagogue behind me, was full of worshipers. There was a bar mitzvah going on.
At the other synagogue in another part of town there was another ceremony. The stained glass windows at the back of the synagogue shattered. One of those who was killed was an 8-year-old girl, and her 85-year-old grandmother is still missing. The Jewish community says that perhaps the body of the grandmother may still be in the morgue.
But for that reason, they're postponing the funerals of those who died. Six of the dead, of the 20 dead were from the Jewish community. And they're saying that they're postponing those funerals until Tuesday until they can account for all the people that they lost -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Andrew, a couple of quick questions for you. We're also hearing word from the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, offering his condolences. The people of Turkey also devastated. I think there are a lot of folks who want to know about the very latest on the investigation at this point.
We're learning a little bit about a tape from a surveillance camera that shows a man parking a station wagon in the street and then moments later one of the explosions went off. What are you hearing they're about this, and are they looking at that tape?
FINKEL: Well, it seems that the two bombs that went off were both in cars and sort of pickup trucks. The same brand, the same mark of truck.
Now, what we do know is that three people appear to have been taken into custody. We don't know whether they've been charged, if they've been charged. We know one of the people, one of the three is a woman. But we're not yet -- the details of the identity of these people is still unclear. The police haven't made any explanation yet.
The other thing we know is the sheer massive size of the amount of explosive material that was in the trucks. These were very, very large bombs indeed. We're getting reports of maybe 400 or 500 pounds of explosives in these vehicles. So they were clearly designed to cause the maximum amount of damage, death and destruction -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Andrew Finkel, thanks so much for the update live from Istanbul this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Attacks>
Aired November 16, 2003 - 08:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's follow up now on the back-to- back bombings in Turkey. Police in Istanbul have detained three people for questioning about the twin bombing attacks outside two synagogues there. Andrew Finkel is on the scene as the investigation continues this morning.
Andrew, good morning to you.
ANDREW FINKEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. It's been a day of fairly intense activity. I was standing in front of Neve Shalom, one of the synagogues where there was a massive explosion yesterday morning.
Now, there's been a fair amount of high-level political activity now in front of this synagogue. A visit here earlier in the day from the Turkish prime minister. He cut short a trip to northern Cypress in order to show a presence, to show Turkish concern, to show solidarity with the Turkish Jewish community.
He wasn't the only visitor here. We had the Israeli foreign minister as well, Silvan Shalom. He came here, also again to also express his country's solidarity with the Turkish Jewish community, the 25,000 Jews who still live in Istanbul.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SILVAN SHALOM, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER: I would like to say that we have full confidence with the Turkish government that they will do everything that is needed. We are cooperating with all the democracies around the world, and Turkey is a very important country in this region. And I'm sure that they will know more than anyone else how to deal with these terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FINKEL: The other thing that has become apparent during the course of the day is the sheer viciousness of the explosion, the sheer viciousness of the attacks. Now, they occurred in the morning on a Saturday morning when the Jewish community was at prayer. Neve Shalom Synagogue, the synagogue behind me, was full of worshipers. There was a bar mitzvah going on.
At the other synagogue in another part of town there was another ceremony. The stained glass windows at the back of the synagogue shattered. One of those who was killed was an 8-year-old girl, and her 85-year-old grandmother is still missing. The Jewish community says that perhaps the body of the grandmother may still be in the morgue.
But for that reason, they're postponing the funerals of those who died. Six of the dead, of the 20 dead were from the Jewish community. And they're saying that they're postponing those funerals until Tuesday until they can account for all the people that they lost -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Andrew, a couple of quick questions for you. We're also hearing word from the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, offering his condolences. The people of Turkey also devastated. I think there are a lot of folks who want to know about the very latest on the investigation at this point.
We're learning a little bit about a tape from a surveillance camera that shows a man parking a station wagon in the street and then moments later one of the explosions went off. What are you hearing they're about this, and are they looking at that tape?
FINKEL: Well, it seems that the two bombs that went off were both in cars and sort of pickup trucks. The same brand, the same mark of truck.
Now, what we do know is that three people appear to have been taken into custody. We don't know whether they've been charged, if they've been charged. We know one of the people, one of the three is a woman. But we're not yet -- the details of the identity of these people is still unclear. The police haven't made any explanation yet.
The other thing we know is the sheer massive size of the amount of explosive material that was in the trucks. These were very, very large bombs indeed. We're getting reports of maybe 400 or 500 pounds of explosives in these vehicles. So they were clearly designed to cause the maximum amount of damage, death and destruction -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Andrew Finkel, thanks so much for the update live from Istanbul this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Attacks>
