FRESH SECURITY fears were triggered for the Anglican congregation in Istanbul this week, after bombs killed 17 people and injured scores of others in an industrial, working-class area of the city on Sunday.

The explosions occurred in a crowded square in the Gunoren neighbourhood on the western bank at about 10 p.m. The second blast, which followed the first by ten minutes, accounted for the large number of casualties, as people rushed to help those caught in the first blast, reports said.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Hayati Yazici, said it was a terrorist attack: “But which organisation is responsible — we don’t yet have the information.”

Rosamund Dannenburg, Reader at the chaplaincy, Christ Church with St Helena, said on Wednesday that, although she had not been in church on Sunday, she did not believe any of the congregation had been caught up in the explosion, as it was at the other side of the city, near the airport.

“People have been ringing me to ask if I am all right. There are a load of things going on politically here, and one wonders what’s behind the bomb. Was it meant to distract from the other major issues like the court judgment we are waiting for, to see if the ruling party (AKP) should be closed down? There was also an alleged coup against the government.

“The Dutch chapel near here has put a metal detector at the door, but we decided not to go down that route. A while ago, I was preaching when Ian [Canon Ian Sherwood, the Chaplain] was away, and I did wonder what would happen if someone came in here waving a gun or a machete.”