Fifteen people were injured, two of them seriously, after a bomb exploded in a market in the western Turkish port of Izmir, police have said.

The bomb was planted in a bag and left on a bicycle in the city's Bornova district. Witnesses said no-one was riding the bicycle at the time.

Officials said there was no immediate indication of who planted the bomb.

The blast occurred one day before a planned rally by secular Turks in the city against the governing AK Party.

The secular opposition blocked the election of the party's candidate for president, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, claiming he had an Islamist agenda.

In an attempt to resolve the row, the government has called early elections for July and proposed reforms to allow the president to be elected by the people rather than parliament.

But Bornova's mayor, Sirri Aydogan, said he did not think there was a connection between the attack and the demonstration.

"It was an attack aimed directly at people, at a massacre," he said.

"All measures will be taken for the rally tomorrow."

"I do not think people will be scared off."

Photo caption

Turkey map