NAKIYE ELGUN STREET WHERE BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE TAKES PLACE, RE-OPENED
ISTANBUL - Nakiye Elgun Street in Istanbul where Beth Israel Synagogue takes place, has been re-opened following the suicide attack on November 15, 2003.
Sisli Mayor Mustafa Sarigul, Provincial Deputy Mufti Ismail Ipek and Chief Rabbi Ishak Haleva were in attendance at the ceremony of re-opening of the street.
Participants observed a minute of silence out of respect to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Founder of modern and secular Republic of Turkey, his brothers in arm and those who lost their lives in November's quadruple suicide attacks in Istanbul.
Speaking at the ceremony, Chief Rabbi Haleva said, ''our country have been expending great efforts to heal its wounds following these inhumane attacks. We are thankful for humanitarian assistance and friendship of everyone. We are proud of the solidarity and courage of our state. He have still been grieving for our citizens who lost their lives in these heinous attacks. We have been praying every day for their souls.''
Sisli Mayor Sarigul extended his condolences to families of the victims.
The street was decorated with Turkish flags.
Israeli Consul General in Istanbul Amira Arnon was also in attendance at the ceremony.
He told reporters that Turkey had become target of the fundamentalist terrorism since it was the center of Islamic democracy and a secular country.
Arnon said that restoration of the street was one of the best examples of good neighborly relations, co-existence and resistance against terrorism.
He thanked Turkish security officials for capturing those responsible in a short period of time.
YILDIRIM, WHO WAS SERIOUSLY INJURED IN SUICIDE ATTACK ON HSBC BANK, DIES
Selahattin Yildirim, who was seriously injured in the suicide attack on the HSBC Bank headquarters on November 20, 2003, died in hospital on Sunday.
Yildirim, 31, could not saved despite all efforts of doctors.
After demise of Yildirim, death toll in the quadruple suicide attacks in Istanbul in November increased to 54.
Bombers Mesut Cabuk, Gokhan Elaltuntas, Feridun Ugurlu and Ilyas Kuncak also died in the attacks.
SUSPECT F.Y. REENACTS
Suspect F.Y., who is believed to have loaded bombs into pickup trucks used in suicide attacks in Istanbul in November, was taken to his workshop on Sunday for reenactment.
F.Y., who was captured as trying to flee Iran from eastern province of Hakkari with a false passport, was taken to the workshop he had rented in Ikitelli district of Istanbul.
The reenactment lasted for about 20 minutes.
Security forces have taken tights measures in and around the workshop.
A total of 57 people were killed and 712 others were wounded when four suicide bombers detonated their trucks in front of Neve Shalom and Beth Israel synagogues, the British Consulate General and HSBC Bank headquarters in Istanbul on November 15 and 20, 2003.
PROVINCIAL SECURITY DIECTORATE IN ISTANBUL: IT WAS REVEALED THAT THE SUSPECT RECEIVED TRAINING ON WAR TECHNIQUES, BOMB AND HEAVY WEAPONS IN ANOTHER COUNTRY
It was revealed that suspect F.Y., who is believed to have loaded bombs into pickup trucks used in suicide attacks in Istanbul in November, had received training on war techniques, bomb making, usage of heavy weapons in a camp under the control of radical organizations in another country.
Releasing a written statement, Istanbul Security Directorate Press Protocol and Public Relations recalled on Sunday that suicide attacks were staged with trucks loaded with bombs on Neve Shalom Synagogue in Beyoglu district and Beth Israel Synagogue in Sisli district of Istanbul on November 15, 2003 and British Consulate General in Beyoglu district and HSBC Bank headquarters in Istanbul on November 20, 2003.
The statement said that 94 people had been transferred to Istanbul State Security Court (DGM) Chief Prosecutor's Office since November 15, 2003 and 31 of them were detained.
''A suspect was captured and taken into custody when he was entering Turkey via southeastern province of Hakkari on December 10, 2003. This person was brought from Hakkari to Istanbul,'' the statement said.
It noted, ''during his interrogation, the suspect said that he had training on war techniques, bomb making, usage of heavy weapons in a camp under the control of radical organizations in an Asian country in 1994. This suspect said that he was in effort to find people who could act as suicide bomber for the organization.''
The statement said that this person was involved in bomb making in a workshop in Kucukcekmece district of Istanbul and those bombs were loaded into trucks.
It stressed, ''during the search in the workshop, police seized some chemicals which were used in bomb making, and cable parts which were also used to prepare the mechanism of bombs.''
Later, F.Y. was sent to Istanbul DGM Chief Prosecutor's Office at around 11.30 local time.
(EÖ-UK) 14.12.2003