Seven people are being questioned this morning over the British consulate and HSBC bombings, a leading Turkish newspaper has reported.
The Hurriyetpaper also identified two men as the suicide bombers who attacked the Consulate General and the bank in Istanbul yesterday, killing at least 27 people in Turkey's worst terrorist outrage.
Terrorists targeted Turkey for the second time in a week, detonating pick-up trucks laden with explosives in front of the British Consulate General in Istanbul in and a London-based bank, killing at least 27 people, including the Consul General, Mr Roger Short.
The bombings, which coincided with President George W. Bush's visit to London, were quickly blamed on al-Qaeda.
The explosions, just minutes apart, came just days after suicide bombers struck two Istanbul synagogues, killing 23. That attack was also blamed on al-Qaeda.
At least 450 people were injured, said Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu. Istanbul governor. Muammer Guler said four of the 16 dead at the consulate were British. He said that the death toll was likely to rise.
An unidentified caller to the semi-official Anatolia news agency said al-Qaeda and a small military Turkish group, the Islamic Great Eastern Raiders' Front, or IBDA-C, jointly claimed responsibility for attacks.
Hurriyetreported today that police in front of the consulate opened fire as the men approached the building, but failed to stop them before they detonated the explosives.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to defeat the attackers: "Those who bloodied this holy day and massacred innocent people will account for it in both worlds," he said. "They will be damned until eternity."
PA