ISTANBUL, Turkey — Two truck bombs exploded outside the British consulate and the headquarters of the London-based HSBC bank in Istanbul on Thursday morning, killing at least 27 people, injuring more than 500 and spreading fear across a city already reeling from similar attacks five days ago. Turkish and British officials immediately blamed the suicide attacks on Islamic extremists and said the blasts bore the trademarks of al-Qaida and the affiliated organizations that fall under its terrorist umbrella. Aimed at British interests, the attack coincided with President Bush’s state visit to Britain, where he defended the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. “It shows how important it is to carry on until terrorism is defeated,” British Prime Minister Tony Blair said at a news conference. “And I can assure you of one thing — that when something like this happens today, our response is not to flinch or give way or concede one inch. We stand absolutely firm until this job is done — done in Iraq, done elsewhere in the world.” Bush agreed. “Great Britain, America and other free nations are united today in our grief, and united in our determination to fight and defeat this evil, wherever it is found,” Bush said. “They particularly want to intimidate and demoralize free nations. They’re not going to succeed.” A NATO member and aspirant to the European Union, Turkey may have been targeted because it is a Muslim country but with a secular, moderate Islamic government. It is also a close ally of the United States and Israel. Turkey has continued to voice support for Washington’s war in Iraq and its war on terror. Turkey was one of the few countries to offer troops for Iraq, although the proposal was scuttled when Iraqis objected to the presence of Turkish soldiers. The government, led by an Islamic party, will be under great pressure to arrest Islamic militants in order to prove itself to U.S. and international partners as well as to Turkey’s restive anti-Islamic military. Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan immediately vowed a broader crackdown on terrorists, saying, “Turkey will be like a fist.” Officials were quick to blame al-Qaida, saying the tactics were similar to past attacks including Saturday’s on two Istanbul synagogues where 23 people were killed. “It has all the hallmarks of the international terror practices by al-Qaida and associated organizations,” Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, said in London before leaving for Turkey where he visited the damaged consulate yesterday. The massive blast at the consulate leveled the security checkpoint and a cafeteria within the stately complex in Beyoglu, one of the city’s busiest pedestrian districts and a popular neighborhood for foreign tourists. Chunks of debris and glass rained over a 10-square-block area, flooding area hospitals with victims of lacerations. At least 14 people were killed in that attack, including Roger Short, the British consul general, and three Turkish policemen. At the HSBC headquarters five miles north, the glass facade was blown off the 18-story skyscraper and the flying glass injured dozens of people in the bustling Levent business district and several cars were engulfed in flames. At least 13 people were believed killed there, including some employees of one of the largest banks in the world. As in the case of Saturday’s attacks, most of the victims yesterday were Turkish Muslims. Terrorism experts said they were surprised that two well-coordinated attacks could be launched so soon after Saturday’s. But some experts also said Turkey has a ready supply of Islamic extremists. “There are hundreds of Turks who went to Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan for training, who fought in Chechnya, and no one was really paying attention to them,” said Hasan Koni, an adviser to Turkey’s National Security Council and political scientist at Ankara University. A senior Turkish security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said authorities are extremely worried that the bombings are the start of a sustained campaign to destabilize the country. He warned that U.S. targets are likely to be next. “We may expect an attack in Ankara, Istanbul or any American target in Turkey,” he said. Initial reports from Turkish security officials said the explosives were concealed in two trucks that were detonated as they were being driven past the consulate and the bank building, both of which are in congested areas where traffic moves slowly. Standing in front of Taksim hospital near the consulate, amid grieving relatives and grim-faced rescue workers, Turkish Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said the attacks were similar to the synagogue explosions. Authorities said initial forensics tests indicated the same type of explosives was used in yesterday’s explosions as was used last Saturday. This time, however, they said the bombs were larger and the devastation was more widespread. The air outside the bank smelled heavily of fuel oil, an ingredient used to bind the ammonium sulfate and nitrate in the homemade explosives. The explosions echoed for miles across the many hills of Istanbul and even across to the Asian side of the Bosporus, sparking fears of an earthquake before television and radio broadcasts were interrupted with news of terror attacks for the second time in five days. A caller to Turkey’s semiofficial Anatolian news agency claimed responsibility in the name of a Turkish group, the Great Eastern Raiders Front, that authorities say is linked with Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network. The same little-known Turkish group claimed responsibility for the synagogue attacks.

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