ANKARA, Oct 23 (AFP) - Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, is to make a two day visit to Turkey during which he will attend the reopening of the British consulate in Istanbul, target of a deadly bomb attack last year, the Anatolia news agency reported Saturday.
The prince will be at the reopening ceremony in Istanbul on Sunday, the agency said citing a British embassy statement.
The consulate was badly damaged in a suicide bombing last November 15 which cost the lives of 16 people, 10 of them consulate staff including the consul-general Roger Short.
The attack, blamed on a Turkish group linked to the Al-Qaeda network, coincided with another suicide bombing directed against the Turkish headquarters of a British bank.
Five days earlier bombers had hit two Istanbul synagogues.
In all 63 people were killed and hundreds injured in the four bombings.
The prince is then scheduled to meet Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.
Further details of the prince`s programme during the visit have not been publicised for security reasons.
10/23/2004 17:07 GMT - AFP