Syrians in Istanbul fear a backlash against them following the Turkish government’s claim that the suicide bomber was a 28-year-old from Syria, writes Ghaith Abdul-Ahad.



Ahmad, a be-speckled engineer from the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo, has been living with his wife in Turkey for two years.



Waiting for a tram at Eminono station south of the scene of the bomb blast he said: “People will be blaming all the Syrians, they don’t know that we have been running away from those same people who are doing the bombing for years.



Ahmad said: “It’s like a nightmare that we can’t wake up form , wherever we go the bombs and war follows us, now turkey our last refuge will be closing its doors.”



His wife added: “It has already closed them”.

