Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, has been targeted with bombs by Kurdish, Islamic and left-wing militants in the past.

Shattered glass

Emergency services were at the scene of Monday's explosion but police were unable to confirm the number of casualties.

One of the injured was reported to be in critical condition, Turkey's private NTV television said.

CNN Turk television showed injured shoppers being helped into ambulances among shattered glass from blown-out windows, Reuters news agency reports.

Speaking at the scene, Mr Guler said police were investigating the type of explosive used.

A number of people had suffered serious injuries, he added.

The Bahcelievler district is a middle-class suburb on the European side of Istanbul, lying between the airport and the city centre.

Resort bombings

Kurdish news agency Firat said it had been contacted by e-mail by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (Tak), claiming responsibility for the bomb.

In its statement the militant group - which also claimed last Thursday's bombing - pledged to carry out similar attacks in the future.

Tak is believed to have links with the main Kurdish rebel group, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and reportedly wants jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to be moved out of solitary confinement.

On Sunday, about 600 Kurdish rebel sympathisers clashed with police and set a bus on fire in protest at Ocalan's detention, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Tak was blamed for a series of bomb attacks in Turkey last year, including one in the holiday resort of Kusadasi in July which killed five people, including two foreign tourists.

The PKK has been blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and the European Union. It has been fighting the Turkish authorities since 1984 in a drive for self-rule in the country's mainly Kurdish south east.