Istanbul
Emergency services pick through debris
Abdullah Gul
Turkey's Foreign Minister
Israel has denounced explosions at two synagogues in Istanbul this morning that killed at least 23 people. It said it was confident that Turkey would find those responsible.
The car bomb attacks came during weekly prayers marking the Jewish Sabbath. More than 250 people were wounded.
A radical Islamist group claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Turkish officials said they also saw signs of possible involvement by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
The US president, George W Bush, said he condemned the attacks in the strongest possible terms. He added that Turkey's diverse religious communities of Muslim, Jewish and Christian believers had flourished together for centuries.
The EU Commission president, Roman Prodi, has said that there was no Europe without tolerance and these attacks were incompatible with our very idea of Europe.
The Vatican said in a statement that the Pope again called on men and women throughout the world to mobilise in favour of peace and against terrorism, in respect for freedom of belief and personal conviction.
