Isthanbul : A suicide blast ripped through a major shopping district in Istanbul on Saturday, killing three Israelis and one Iranian less than a week after another deadly attack left 35 dead in Ankara.
The sixth major bombing in Turkey since July targeted Istiklal Caddesi, a bustling two-kilometre-long pedestrian street usually thronged with shoppers, tourists and buskers but which was still relatively quiet when the bomber struck on Saturday morning.
"This is a suicide attack, a terrorist attack," said Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin, adding that four people and the attacker died in the attack.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu vowed that the investigation would quickly identify those responsible while the US condemned a "vicious attack".
"We will fight with determination and perseverance until all forms of terrorism are eradicated," Davutoglu said.
Deputy health minister Ahmet Baha Otuken named an Israeli man, Simha Demri, as being among the victims of the attack, in which 36 people were injured.
The CNN-Turk channel said two other Israelis Yonathan Suher, 40 and Avraham Goldman, 70 were killed along with Demri, 60, and Iranian, Ali Rıza Khalman, 31.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the explosion but pro-government media blamed it on the Islamic State (IS) group, which has been accused of several attacks in Turkey in recent months, including a suicide bombing near the Blue Mosque in January, in which 12 German tourists were killed.
Several media outlets named the alleged perpetrator of Saturday's attack as Savas Yildiz, a 33-year-old Turkish radical.
IS was also blamed for an attack that left 103 people dead at a pro-Kurdish peace rally in Ankara in October.
More recently, Kurdish rebels embroiled in a resurgent conflict with the state have also staged suicide attacks, striking Ankara twice over the past month, killing dozens of people.
Of the 36 injured, Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said 12 were foreigners. Six were Israelis, two were Irish and the four others from Germany, Iceland, Iran and Dubai, his office said.
CCTV footage circulated by Turkish media showed a man wearing a long coat presented as the bomber approaching a small group of people outside a local government building directly before the blast.
Sahin said the government building appeared to be the intended target.
A Western diplomatic source said the attacker may also have had tourists in his sights.
