土耳其爆炸致10死15伤 Suicide bomber brings carnage to Istanbul tourist district

Turkey blamed a Syrian suicide bomber from Isis for a large explosion that killed 10 including at least eight German tourists in Istanbul’s historic Sultanahmet district yesterday.

昨日，土耳其伊斯坦布尔市历史悠久的苏丹艾哈迈德广场(Sultanahmet)发生大爆炸，导致包括至少8名德国游客在内10人死亡。土耳其当局指责一名来自“伊拉克和黎凡特伊斯兰国”(ISIS)的叙利亚自杀式炸弹袭击者对此负责。

The blast occurred at 10.15am in Sultanahmet, a thriving tourist area close to attractions such as the Blue Mosque and the Aya Sofya.

爆炸上午10点一刻发生在苏丹艾哈迈德广场，该广场是一个人流密集的旅游区，靠近蓝色清真寺(Blue Mosque)、圣索菲亚大教堂(Aya Sofya)等著名景点。

Ahmet Davutoglu, the prime minister, said the attacker belonged to Isis and that the dead and wounded were foreigners. “We know that he [the bomber] is a foreign citizen and a Daesh member,” he said, using the Arabic acronym for the jihadi group.

土耳其总理阿赫迈特达乌特奥卢(Ahmet Davutoglu)表示，袭击者来自ISIS，死者和伤者都外国人。“我们获悉他（炸弹袭击者）是一名外国公民、‘达伊沙’(Daesh)成员，”他说，并用阿拉伯语缩写指称该圣战组织。

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, said the country was being targeted for its campaign against “terrorist” organisations in the region. “This incident once again has shown us that we have to stay united against terrorism,” he said in televised remarks.

土耳其总统雷杰普吠伊普埃尔多安(Recep Tayyip Erdogan)表示，土耳其因打击该地区的“恐怖”组织而成为袭击目标。他在电视讲话中称：“这一事件再次表明，我们必须团结起来打击恐怖主义。”

The German government said at least eight of the dead and many of the 15 people injured were Germans. The explosion took place not far from a fountain memorialising the visit of the German emperor to Istanbul in 1898.

德国政府表示，至少8名死者以及15名伤者中的许多人都是德国人。爆炸地点距离一座纪念德国皇帝1898年访问伊斯坦布尔的喷泉不远。

Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, said international terrorism “once again shows us its brutal and inhuman face”.

德国总理安格拉默克尔(Angela Merkel)表示，国际恐怖主义“再一次向我们展示了它残暴、非人性的一面”。

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany’s foreign minister, struck a similar tone, describing the act as a “barbaric, cowardly act of terror” and lamenting that it had targeted the heart of Istanbul, which “we all value for its openness to the world”.

德国外长弗兰克-瓦尔特施泰因迈尔(Frank-Walter Steinmeier)表达了同样的愤怒，称之为“野蛮、懦弱的恐怖行为”，并痛惜，袭击的目标是伊斯坦布尔的中心，“我们都因这里对世界的开放而珍视它”。

The bombing is the third major terrorist incident in Turkey since July, and heightens concerns about security as Mr Erdogan confronts the spiralling effects of the civil war in neighbouring Syria as well as violence in the largely Kurdish south-east of Turkey.

此次爆炸事件是去年7月以来土耳其发生的第三起大型恐怖事件，进一步加深了对土耳其安全的担忧，埃尔多安所面对的问题正在急剧增加，包括邻国叙利亚内战，以及以库尔德人为主的土耳其东南部发生的暴力活动。

The bombing raises questions about the capabilities of Turkey’s vast surveillance and intelligence networks in preventing attacks.

土耳其拥有庞大的监视和情报网络以防止攻击，此次爆炸对该网络的能力提出质疑。

If it is confirmed that the bomber was a Syrian, the attacks could become a domestic political issue in Germany, where Syrians have entered the country in large numbers as refugees. Sexual assaults on women in Cologne on New Year’s Eve, allegedly committed mainly by asylum seekers, have caused outrage in Germany and increased criticism of Ms Merkel’s refugee policy.

如果确认袭击者为叙利亚人，则袭击事件可能在德国引起政治问题，因为德国接受了大批叙利亚难民。跨年夜科隆发生的女性遭性侵事件，据称作案者主要是申请避难者，此事在德国引起民愤，并增加了对默克尔难民政策的批评。

Yesterday’s attack could also complicate the chancellor’s efforts to secure a wide-ranging deal with Turkey on her top priority: limiting the inflow of refugees from the Middle East into Europe.

德国总理原本寻求与土耳其就她的首要任务达成广泛协议，即限制难民从中东流入欧洲，昨日的袭击可能会令她的努力复杂化。