Jan. 12--A powerful blast set off by a suicide bomber rocked the heart of Istanbul's tourist district Monday, leaving at least 10 dead and 15 wounded, officials said.
The explosion occurred in Sultanahmet Square, close to several of Istanbul's iconic monuments, including the so-called Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, a former Christian basilica and Muslim mosque that is now a museum.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the explosion was a suicide attack of "Syrian origin," though he provided no other details.
Later, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told reporters that the suicide bomber had been identified as a Syrian national, born in 1988.
Most of the victims were foreigners, the deputy prime minister said, an indication that tourists were directly targeted.
Suspicion for the attack immediately fell on Islamic State, the breakaway Al Qaeda faction that controls vast swaths of Syria and Iraq, two nations that share borders with Turkey.
Authorities have warned of Islamic State cells operating throughout Turkey and blamed Islamic State operatives for suicide attacks last year in Ankara, the capital, and in the southern town of Suruc that together killed more than 130 people.
The area where Monday's blast occurred is among the most prominent for visitors to Turkey, which draws more than 30 million tourists each year.
Reports indicated that several Germans were among the casualties, but there was no immediate official breakdown of the nationalities of the victims.
The blast occurred at about 10:20 a.m. local time on a sunny day in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city.
The explosion in Sultanahmet Square was heard as far as Taksim Square, more than a mile away.
Pictures on social media appearing to capture the moment of the explosion showed a blast close to the Obelisk of Theodosius, an ancient Egyptian monument moved to Istanbul by the city's Byzantine founders.
The square is filled with Byzantine and Ottoman sights, and groups of tourists can be seen there throughout the day and night, often pausing at historical markers in the shape of obelisks to read information in Turkish, English and Arabic. The area is especially crowded on weekends.
Footage aired by local media showed bodies lying on the ground in a tight group, and scores of Turkish security officials, including riot police, cordoning off the square.
Police sealed off the area amid fears of a second explosion.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called an emergency meeting of security officials in Ankara.
Earlier this month, published reports citing security officials said Islamic State had recruited some 450 members in Ankara via a vast network. Their ranks reportedly included 100 operatives who were undergoing training on explosives in the Syrian city of Raqqa, Islamic State's self-proclaimed capital, just 50 miles south of the Turkish border.
Turkey, the eastern bulwark of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has come under withering international accusations of being slow to respond to the threat from Islamic State and other militant groups in neighboring Syria, which shares a border of more than 500 miles with Turkey. Thousands of militants have crossed Turkish territory en route to Syria since the conflict there began in 2011.
Turkish officials have repeatedly denied allegations that Turkey's intelligence agency has helped arm and finance militant Islamist factions fighting to overthrow the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Last year, Turkish authorities announced with fanfare that Turkey was joining U.S.-led efforts targeting Islamic State. But Turkey has since concentrated much of its firepower against Kurdish militant targets inside Turkey and in Iraq.
In recent months, however, Turkish authorities have begun a crackdown targeting Islamic State cells in various provinces. Turkey has also increased security along the porous Syrian border.
Farooq is a special correspondent. Times staff writer McDonnell contributed from Beirut.
