Gungoren

Today's front pages were filled with funerals -- 17 people died in Sunday's double-bombing. More than 150 are injured, many of them seriously. So far no group has claimed responsibility for the bombings. Many suspect that the PKK, a Kurdish terrorist group who has concealed explosives in trash containers in the past, is behind things.

And yet life goes on as usual in Istanbul. At the risk of making Istanbul sound like some dangerous urban jungle, it important to note that the city sees around a dozen-or so attacks like this every year. The notion of placing an explosive in a garbage can or dumpster is so commonplace that the busiest city streets have neither.

The site of Sunday's attack was a crowded residential neighborhood called Gungoren, a middle to lower middle class place virtually indistinguishable from the residential areas around it. It's far away, both in terms of distance and socio-economics, from the very chic, very Western neighborhood where I live. A trip to the airport would take a tourist in that general direction; otherwise, nothing -- nothing -- would draw foreigners to Gungoren. Sunday's bombs were intended to kill Turks, a fact that doesn't make me feel any better about the situation -- the pictures in today's papers were tragic.

Thanks to those of you who contacted me -- I'm obviously alive and safe, although slightly more prepared to return home in two and a half weeks.

Rough Summer

As you may have already heard, there was a bombing in an Istanbul neighborhood tonight. Fifteen people were killed. I didn't think I would be posting another "I'm safe" update this summer, but so it goes.
I'll keep you posted as the story develops.

Shooting

There was a shooting at the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul a few minutes ago (Link to BBC story).

I was too sick to go into work today, so I'm obviously ok. According to the telephone updates from my co-workers, everyone in the consulate appears to be ok as well. At least three police officers were killed however, and early reports indicate that some of the people waiting outside for visas were injured.