Victims of synagogue attacks remembered in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

The victims of the attacks on the two synagogues in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu and Şişli district in 2003 were remembered by citizens on Nov. 15.

At the commemoration ceremony held in front of the Peace Monument built after the attack near the Neve Shalom Synagogue in Beyoğlu, a moment of silence was observed for those who lost their lives.

Citizens left carnations in the area where the bombing took place.

“We have always condemned terrorism by emphasizing peace and brotherhood in our commemorations for 19 years, as it is a dagger that pierces the heart of the will for peace, tolerance and common life,” said Ertuğrul Çiçekoğlu, the head of a local association from the central Anatolian province of Sivas.

“Those who feed and perpetrate terrorism are the executioners who stabbed this dagger,” he added.

The 2003 Istanbul bombings were a series of suicide attacks carried out with trucks fitted with bombs detonated at four different locations in Istanbul between Nov. 15 and 20.

On Nov. 15, two truck bombs were detonated, one in front of the Bet Israel Synagogue in Şişli and another in front of the Neve Shalom Synagogue in Beyoğlu. As a result of these bombings, 28 people died, included the attackers, and more than 300 people were wounded.

Five days after the first attacks, on Nov. 20, two different attacks were perpetrated against the British Consulate General and the HSBC’s headquarters in Beşiktaş district, again using truck bombs.

In the second round of attacks, 31 people lost their lives and more than 450 were injured. In total, 59 people died, including the four suicide bombers, and more than 750 were wounded in the bombings.

Investigations launched in the wake of the attacks determined that Al Qaeda had orchestrated the bombings.