Bomber Targets US Embassy in Turkey, Killing Two
February 01, 2013
by Carla Babb
A suicide bomber has killed himself and at least one other person at the U.S Embassy complex in the Turkish capital, Ankara.
Officials said the bombing victim was a Turkish security guard at the embassy. A reporter for VOA's Turkish service said the guard was killed near an X-ray machine at a checkpoint. The reporter said security cameras were not working at the time because the power had been down in the area.
Police cordoned off the area, where several other embassies are located. Bomb experts and police were taking precautions against the possibility of another attack.
U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardone thanked the Turkish security forces for a quick response.
"Right now we are all dealing with our sadness at the loss of our fellow member of our embassy," Ricciardone said "We salute his bravery, his service to Turkey and to Turkey-American friendship. Our hearts go out to his family.''
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the bombing and called on the world to unite against terrorism.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. But Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Guler said the attacker belonged to an illegal leftist group.
The banned Revolutionary Peoples Liberation Front has carried out suicide attacks in the past against Turkish security forces.
The Kurdish rebel group, the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, has used suicide bombers in its battle against the Turkish state. But while it has bombed foreign interests, the rebel group has not targeted diplomatic installations.
Friday's attack is the second on U.S. diplomatic offices in Turkey in five years. In 2008, three gunmen and three policemen were killed in an attack outside the U.S. consulate in Istanbul.
U.S. embassy officials have been on alert since terrorists killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, at the American consulate in Benghazi on September 11. Earlier that day, anti-American protesters angry about a U.S.-made film about the Prophet Muhammad stormed the U.S. embassy in Cairo. Yemenis offended by that film also broke into the U.S. embassy compound in Sana'a.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the deadly attack on the U.S. mission in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi prompted her to take urgent steps to improve security at diplomatic posts worldwide.
Clinton said she has responded to those incidents by asking for hundreds of additional Marine security guards to be sent to vulnerable diplomatic posts. She testified in a Senate hearing last week that she has designated more than 20 U.S. missions around the world as high-risk sites requiring tighter security.
A labor union that represents American diplomats said in an interview with VOA that sending more Marines to guard high-risk missions is a positive step.
"Having them there in an emergency can also buy you time and can certainly help you to prevail or escape or minimize the damage, so we welcome that," said American Foreign Service Association president Susan Johnson. "But the Marines are not out there yet."
However, some American diplomats worry that new security rules ordered by Washington also could make it harder for their counterparts to do their jobs.
Johnson said many diplomats have been speaking up in favor of flexibility.
“Benghazi is bringing the issue to the forefront. I am seeing a bit more pushback from the Foreign Service against calls to eliminate all risk, not travel anywhere and get 64 permissions to do so," she said.
Additional reporting by Dorian Jones in Istanbul and Michael Lipin in Washington.
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