A Turkish state court has charged nine people on suspicion of involvement in two explosions last week that destroyed the British consulate and the headquarters of British-based HSBC bank in Istanbul.
The semi-state Anatolian news agency said the court had charged the nine people with "belonging to, aiding and abetting an illegal organisation" early on Tuesday morning after a lengthy interrogation of the suspects.
It said three other people detained by police after last Thursday's explosions had been freed. The agency gave no further details.
State security court officials told reporters on Monday evening that four of 16 people sent to the court had been released after giving testimony to prosecutors.
The suspects include relatives of the bombers, all of whom came from Bingol, a centre of Islamic fundamentalism in Turkey's impoverished and mainly Kurdish southeast near the border with Iran.
Groups apparently linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network have claimed responsibility for the November 20th attacks on the consulate and the Turkey headquarters of the London-based HSBC Bank in which 30 people were killed.
The blasts came five days after similar suicide bomb attacks on two synagogues in Istanbul in which 25 people died.
Turkey, which began on Tuesday to celebrate the annual Bayram holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, has stepped up security at key sites, fearing further attacks.