The Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern is to hold talks with the Turkish foreign minister after the no warning bomb attack which killed a teenager from Waterford, it emerged today.
The announcement comes after the identity of the Irish person killed in when a bomb explosed on a minibus on in the popular holiday resort of Kusadasi was confirmed as Tara Whelan, a 17-year-old from Kilmeaden, Waterford.
Mr Ahern was due to leave tomorrow for meetings with ministers in Greece and Cyprus and will also be visiting Ankara for talks with the Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.
The meetings were scheduled prior yesterday's terror attack as part of Mr Ahern's role as a special envoy for the United Nations.
But a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said Mr Ahern would be seeking an assessment of the security situation in the country's holiday resorts.
"One of the issues he is going to be raising with the Foreign Minister is the safety and security of tourists, particularly Irish tourists, travelling through Turkey," the spokesman said.
"His concerns will be that this bombing, in this resort, that it would not be repeated and he will be asking what the situation is on the ground regarding the safety and security of Irish tourists."
It is understood holidaymakers near the resort of Kusadasi were warned to avoid the most popular tourist spots only hours before the blast ripped the roof and sides of the minibus off.
Police initially feared the blast was the work of a female suicide bomber, but said today they now believed explosives had been planted on the vehicle.
A total of five people died and 11 were injured when explosives detonated as the bus was driven from the town centre to a beach.
The spokesman said Mr Ahern had expressed his abhorrence and regrets at the
teenager's death in the brutal attack.
The Minister will also be meeting staff at the Irish embassy in Ankara. Diplomats were preparing to brief Mr Ahern on the current situation in Kusadasi.