December 27, 2003	Saturday	Ziqa’ad 3, 1424

ISTANBUL, Dec 26: Turkish authorities have broken up the Istanbul cell behind last month’s truck bombings and have confirmed its links to the Al Qaeda network, the city’s governor said on Friday.

The four blasts targeted two synagogues and British interests in Turkey’s commercial capital, killing 61 people and wounding several hundred. It was one of the worst weeks of peacetime violence in modern Turkish history.

“The suicide attacks were carried out by elements trying to organize for Al Qaeda in Turkey,” governor Muammer Guler told a news conference in Istanbul, held to announce progress in the investigation.

“We can comfortably say that we have broken up the organisation’s Istanbul activities,” he said.

In the wake of the attacks, the United States and Britain warned against non-essential travel to NATO-ally Turkey.—Reuters