ISTANBUL (CIHAN) - With the US President George W. Bush due to arrive in the Turkish capital Ankara later this evening in the wake of an upsurge of bomb incidents and fears in Turkey over the past few days, a frenzy of bomb paranoia seems to have gripped the Turkish public.
Numerous calls have been flooding into the Turkish police in cities across the country reporting the existence of suspicious bags and packages left unattended in public places. All the abandoned bags and packages which have been examined so far have proved to be harmless.
The chief focal points of the public's fears are Ankara where US President Bush is due to spend Saturday night, and Istanbul where Mr Bush will attend the NATO summit next Monday and Tuesday. Calls from the public concerning suspect bags have also been coming into the police in Izmir, Mersin, Adana and Kocaeli.
Two explosions last Thursday, one in Ankara and the other in Istanbul, have been decisive in increasing the public's bomb fears. The Ankara explosion occurred 20m from the Ankara Hilton where President Bush will be staying for the first night of his Turkish visit. Three people including two police officers were injured in the explosion. Also on Thursday, in the Fatih district of Istanbul a bomb exploded aboard a public bus killing 4 people and wounding 17 others.
Also two small bombs exploded in the southern Anatolian city of Adana on Friday night. The bombs caused some material damage but no injuries, and a bomb tied to a placard on an overpass on the European side of Istanbul exploded on Saturday. There have been no reports of any casualties.