Explosion Damages Istanbul Cathedral

An explosion shattered windows at the seat of the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians in Istanbul on Thursday, officials said. There were no reports of injuries.

The blast struck the roof of the Cathedral of St. George, shattering windows there as well as in the main building of the Ecumenical Patriarchate complex, a Patriarchate official said on condition of anonymity.

A terrorism police squad was investigating the cause of the blast, police officials said.

The blast came weeks after police clashed with hundreds of rock-throwing nationalist Turks who staged a protest outside the Patriarchate and burned an effigy of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, whom far-right groups accuse of working against Turkish interests.

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press