Sarai Sierra, a US woman who disappeared last month while on holiday in Turkey, has been found dead in Istanbul, reports say.
The body of Sarai Sierra was discovered near Istanbul’s ancient walls, Turkish media report.
Police have arrested nine people in connection with the case, the state-run Anadolu agency says.
Sarai Sierra, a 33-year-old mother of two from New York, had been missing since January 21, the day before she was due to arrive back in New York City.
She had left for Turkey two weeks earlier and made short trips to the Netherlands and Germany, the Associated Press (AP) reports.
Police had released security camera footage showing Sarai Sierra at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport before she flew to Amsterdam.
Her body is reported to have been found close to the Galata Bridge, a popular tourist site spanning Istanbul’s Golden Horn waterway.
Shortly before her disappearance, Sarai Sierra had allegedly told her family that she planned to visit the bridge.
Although police have not yet commented on the case, reports say the American may have been stabbed to death.
Sarai Sierra, a US woman who disappeared last month while on holiday in Turkey, has been found dead in Istanbul
Andalou says she may have been killed at a different location before her body was hidden near the city walls.
The US embassy in Ankara had been working with Turkish authorities to help track down the missing woman.
Police in Istanbul set up a special unit to find Sarai Sierra, AP says.
Her husband and her brother had also travelled to Istanbul to join the search.
The case attracted extensive media coverage in Turkey where the disappearance of tourists is rare.
[youtube 2fB7iuZ-qDE]
[youtube 3llLF68hePA]
[youtube KRVfjJ1Kai8]
Turkish Marxist group Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) has claimed it carried a suicide attack on the US embassy in Ankara on Friday.
DHKP-C said the “act of self-sacrifice” had targeted the US, which the group called “murderer of the people of the world”.
The bomber and a guard were killed in the attack at a side entrance of the heavily guarded compound.
The US has warned its citizens not to visit diplomatic missions in Turkey until further notice.
In an online statement the DHKP-C said: “Our warrior Alisan Sanli carried out an act of self-sacrifice on 1 February 2013, by entering the Ankara embassy of the United States, murderer of the people of the world.”
Turkey and the US have denounced the incident as terrorism.
A number of illegal groups ranging from Kurdish separatists to leftist and Islamist militants have launched attacks in Turkey in recent years.
Turkish Marxist group Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) has claimed it carried a suicide attack on the US embassy in Ankara on Friday
The US state department said a Turkish woman visiting the embassy had been seriously hurt and several staff members had suffered minor injuries.
The DHKP-C is designated a terrorist organization in the US and Europe.
The extreme-left group has been blamed for a number of attacks since the 1970s, including some on US diplomatic missions.
Turkish police carried out a series of raids on suspected members in January.
The embassy building is heavily protected but the US has had long-standing plans to move its compound elsewhere for security reasons.
It was recently reported to be in the final stages of a deal to choose an alternative location.
[youtube pdXAgleH3Tc]
At least one person has been killed in a blast outside the US embassy in the Turkish capital, Ankara, with reports that it was a suicide bomber.
Dozens of ambulances and fire engines rushed to the scene after the explosion, in an area which is home to diplomatic missions.
According to Turkish broadcaster NTV, the explosion caused no damage inside the embassy itself.
There were no reports of any group saying it had carried out the attack.
The AP news agency quoted police as saying two people had been killed in a suicide attack and NTV said two security guards at the entrance had died.
A number of illegal groups ranging from Kurdish separatists to leftist and Islamist militants have launched attacks in recent years in Turkey, which is a member of NATO.
At least one person has been killed in a blast outside the US embassy in the Turkish capital, Ankara, with reports that it was a suicide bomber
[youtube uaDnfT96WuM]
