World reaction: World leaders vowed to intensify the fight against terrorism after the second spate of deadly bomb attacks in Istanbul within a week.
Security in Europe had already been increased around many potential targets such as embassies and synagogues since last Saturday's bombing and the new attacks only heightened fears.
German police erected barriers around the British embassy in Berlin today and police surveillance in Antwerp's Jewish neighbourhood had been stepped up since the weekend. Similar measures were taken in several other countries. Even football was affected, with the European federation, UEFA, postponing two international matches in Turkey because of the attacks.
"It is not just Israel," said the country's prime minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, "this is a danger to the entire free world. There is no compromising with terror." Israel's neighbours, Jordan and Egypt, also joined the global condemnation of the attacks.
Some saw a premeditated political pattern behind the attacks, not just blind hatred.
"The synagogues the other day, the Brits today. It seems like someone is trying to tell the Turks that they should be punished for the support to Israel, for the support to the toppling of Saddam Hussein in Iraq," said the Danish Foreign Minister, Mr Per Stig Moeller.
The NATO nations and Russia said in a joint statement after a meeting yesterday that "the terrorists who carry out these atrocities will not succeed in their efforts to sow fear and division among the international community."
At the European Parliament, MEPs stood a minute in silence to commemorate the victims.
The Vatican deplored the bombings, condemning the "barbarous logic of terrorism" that only causes the death of innocents and destruction. Vatican spokesman Mr Joaquin Navarro-Valls quoted Pope John Paul's description of terrorism as based on the "contempt of human dignity" and as a "crime against humanity".
UN Secretary General Mr Kofi Annan condemned the "shocking" terrorist attacks and called for genuine international co-operation to fight terrorism. "That is the only way we will succeed," he said after addressing a Security Council meeting in New York. - (AP)