2003 Terrorist attacks against synagogues in Istanbul

10 years ago, on November 15, 2003, in Istanbul, suicide drivers drove explosive trucks into two of the city's synagogues as a result of a double terrorist attack. 25 people were killed (6 Jews and 19 Muslims), more than 300 were injured. The terrorists claimed that "Israeli agents" worked in the synagogues.

Five days later, on November 20, five more explosions were carried out. The first explosion took place near the building of the Istanbul headquarters of the British bank HSBC. The second explosion took place outside the British consulate, killing the British consul Roger Short. The third explosion occurred near the Metro City shopping center, two more occurred in the center of Istanbul (one of them was not far from the building of the Israeli diplomatic mission). 28 people were killed, 450 people were injured.

Responsibility for the incident was claimed by the international terrorist organization Al-Qaeda and the Turkish radical Islamist group Front of Islamic Conquerors of the Great East. For organizing the explosion, a Turkish court convicted 48 people associated with Al-Qaeda.