Bomb Attack in Constantinople

Kurdish terrorists are suspected of detonated two bombs in Constantinople killing 17 people. AFP

ISTANBUL (AFP) — Two bombs exploded in a crowded Istanbul street, killing at least 17 people and wounding more than 150, hours before a key court hearing Monday that could result in a ban on Turkey's ruling party.

Officials said clues pointed at separatist Kurdish rebels as the perpetrators of the deadliest attack against civilians in Turkey since 2003, when 63 people were killed in four suicide bombings in Istanbul blamed on Al-Qaeda.

The Turkish media said the attacks late Sunday appeared to be in retaliation for a crackdown on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged a firm response to the "savagery."

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The attack raised tensions ahead of a crucial meeting of the Constitutional Court on whether to ban Erdogan's Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) for undermining Turkey's secular system.

A decision to outlaw the AKP could plunge the country into political crisis.

Both bombs were planted in concrete rubbish containers on a crowded street lined with shops and cafes in the popular Gungoren neighbourhood on Istanbul's European side, officials said.

A small bomb went off around 10:00 p.m. (1900 GMT) Sunday, creating the initial panic.

A second, more powerful explosion followed about 10 minutes later, some 50 metres (yards) away, as passers-by and residents milled around the site of the first explosion.