Turkey charged 74 people with involvement in the bombings, including Syrians Loai al-Saqa and Hamid Obysi, and a Turk, Harun Ilhan.
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Ilhan admitted that he and two other suspected ringleaders — Habib Akdaş and Gurcan Bac — were responsible; Ilhan referred to himself as ‘an al-Qaeda warrior'.
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Several Britons were killed in the two attacks, including the top British official in Istanbul, consul general Roger Short, while the rest of the victims were mostly Turkish citizens (such as actor and singer Kerem Yılmazer), as in the earlier synagogue blasts.
He returned Turkey and was named as emir of an Al Qaeda unit in Turkey which carried out 2003 Istanbul bombings.
Istanbul | 2003 | 2003 in music | 2003 invasion of Iraq | 7 July 2005 London bombings | 2003 ATP Tour | 2003 Pan American Games | 2003 Rugby World Cup | Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Communications Act 2003 | 2003 in film | Ontario general election, 2003 | Istanbul University | 2003 World Series of Poker | Boston Marathon bombings | 2003 World Championships in Athletics | 2003 in television | 2002 Bali bombings | 1998 United States embassy bombings | 2003 in baseball | Quebec general election, 2003 | İstanbul | 2003 Cricket World Cup | Party Monster (2003 film) | Istanbul Biennial | 2003 NFL season | Peter Pan (2003 film) | New South Wales state election, 2003 | 2003 WTA Tour | Underworld (2003 film) |
In January 2007, Rowell courted controversy by suspending the chaplain of Istanbul, Ian Sherwood, and the entire chaplaincy council, including Victoria Short, widow of Roger Short, the British Consul General killed in the 2003 bomb attack.