Prince Charles to reopen British Consulate

Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, is to attend the official ceremony for the reopening which will be participated by Culture Minister Erkan Mumcu and Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbas and Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler as well, the British Embassy in Ankara said in a statement.

The prince is also scheduled to visit Ankara where he will meet President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The consulate was badly damaged in a suicide bombing last November 15 which cost the lives of 16 people, 10 of them consulate staff including the consul-general Roger Short.

The attack, blamed on a Turkish group linked to the Al-Qaeda network, coincided with another suicide bombing that targetted the Turkish headquarters of a British bank. Five days earlier bombers had hit two Istanbul synagogues. A total of 63 people were killed and hundreds injured in the four bombings.

Turkish prosecutors indicted 69 Turks — most of them were later released under the effect of the Turkish Criminal Code reforms which abolished State Security Courts — for having alleged links to the al-Qaeda groups in the attacks. A suspect admitted last month before a local court that al-Qaeda financed him for the attacks.

Almost all defendants denied taking part in the attacks but admitted involvement with extremist groups or receiving training at Afghanistan training camps. One suspect among them said he had met Osama Bin Laden before September 11, 2001; however, they denied participation in the bombings.

Prince Charles will also visit an integrated dance workshop sponsored by the British Council in Ankara.

The integrated workshop is a practical example of the work being done in Turkey to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in society. The British Council and the Turkish Disabled Confederation formed the Turkish Integrated Dance Company in May 2004 to raise public awareness of the rights of people with disabilities.

——————————————————————————–