The foreign secretary has said the bomb attacks in Istanbul were part of a global campaign against the civilised world.

Jack Straw is visiting Turkey to assess the damage inflicted by Thursday's terrorist atrocities.

He flew to Istanbul last night following a bomb attack on the British consulate in the city. UK consul general Roger Short was killed in the blast along with at least 29 others.

Straw said the terror threat would have to be met multilaterally and tackled with "hearts and souls".

"We who represent the civilised world are facing a global threat and we have to deal with it in a global way," the foreign secretary said.

"This is something which, I'm afraid, is a terrorism that attacks the world and where the targets are across the world.

"What we know from our experience in the UK of terrorism, albeit a different kind of terrorism, is that we have to work very hard with our security forces, but above all in your heart and your soul you have to decide you are going to fight this terrorism."

At a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Straw said nowhere would be immune from the threat of terrorism.

But he dismissed suggestions that the war in Iraq had made British interests an increased target as "utter and palpable nonsense".

"All countries in the civilised world are potentially targets," he said.

"It may be that because Turkey is a successful democracy, overwhelmingly people here are Islamic, the people democratically and freely recently elected a government - with an Islamic party which gives respect to Islam as part of its values, but is also democratic and forward looking - that the terrorists chose to make their next attack here."

"We were all victims of terrorism months and years before we made a separate and distinct decision to take military action in Iraq," he told the BBC.

"Because of what had happened before, had we not taken military action against Iraq, I am clear that the same level of terrorist atrocities organised by al Qaeda and its associates would have gone on."

And he defended the travel advice issued by the government and protection offered to Foreign Office staff abroad.

"We do our best to give prompt advice based on the information that we have received," he said.

"We keep our security arrangements for all our consulates under review, and whilst it's always possible to say 'could he have done this, could he have done that,' whatever precautions are taken to deal with the terrorist threat, it will always be possible for some terrorists to get through, and we must never ever shift responsibility for the atrocities and the deaths away from the terrorists."

Yesterday, the prime minister vowed to "defeat and destroy" the terrorists responsible for the attacks.

Addressing journalists Tony Blair said the "fanatics of terror" had shown themselves to be "callous murderers" of innocent people.

"This is a time to show strength, determination and complete resolve," he said.

"Once again we are reminded of the evil these terrorists pose to innocent people everywhere and our way of life.

"Once again we must affirm that in the face of this terrorism there must be no holding back, no compromise, no hesitation in confronting this menace, in attacking it wherever and whenever we can and in defeating it utterly."

And President Bush said the attacks should stiffen the resolve to root out terrorists across the globe.

The two explosions took place shortly after 9.00am on Thursday.

According to the Associated Press news agency al Qaeda and Turkish Islamic militant group IBDA-C claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Metropolitan Police chief Sir John Stevens described the blasts as "appalling" and announced that British anti-terror officers are being sent to the country.

The first attack took place outside the British consulate building - blowing out windows and destroying two outbuildings.

A second blast took place outside the HSBC bank in the city.

A spokesman for the bank said an unconfirmed number of its employees had been killed.

In an emergency Commons statement made before leaving for Turkey, Straw told MPs that the Foreign Office was advising British nationals against non-essential travel to Istanbul.

Shadow foreign minister Richard Spring expressed his concern and sympathies to the victims of the outrage.

"Britain enjoys close and harmonious relations with Turkey we need to assist them with our expertise to deal with this new form of terrorism which is wholly alien to a secular society like Turkey," he said.

And he paid tribute to the work of the consul general.

"I was with him last month and saw at first hand his professionalism in doing an extremely important job in the key British Consulate in Istanbul. He showed me around the Consulate building which was being renovated," he said. "I am personally devastated by his death."

The Liberal Democrats' foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell said Britain had to accept that it was now the target of terror groups.

"This is a shocking and tragic example of the willingness of terrorists to attack wherever and whenever they can to do the most damage," he said.

"It appears that British interests may have been specifically targeted. Those who represent the UK abroad are now clearly in the front line."

Some 23 people were killed in a recent bomb blast which ripped apart a synagogue in Istanbul. A group with links to al Qaeda took responsibility for that attack.