++CLIENTS PLEASE NOTE++

Turkish authorities have imposed a temporary blackout on distribution of any material concerning the aftermath and investigation of the bombing in Istanbul today, they say, due to the ongoing inquiry and security issues.

This affects ALL news coverage in online print, photos and video being sent back into Turkey.

Clients are advised to seek their own legal advice if they intend to transmit material already supplied by the AP and ongoing news coverage of this specific attack and its aftermath, back into Turkey.

This has been the AP's guidance in previous instances after the Turkish government imposed such a blackout a few hours into an unfolding attack.

Istanbul - 7 June 2016

1. Various of shop windows being replaced after blast

2. Broken glass on ground

3. Man dropping piece of window on cloth on ground

4. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Ahmet Aslan, shop owner:

"There was a lot of smoke because of the blast. There was a lot of smoke everywhere. The windows broke. We went there to look around, there were some wounded people. We helped them, then the ambulance came and took them to the hospital. A police car was turned into pieces."

5. Onlookers at site of attack, damaged bus in background

6. Damaged bus at blast scene

7. Pan of police tape at blast scene, mosque in background

8. Various of police guarding site

9. SOUNDBITE (German) Christian Gross, German tourist:

"We stayed in Motel Double Tree, approximately 200 to 300 metres (656 to 984 feet) away (from the blast site). And we heard the attack, our window had been open and my wife and I were already awake. And we immediately said (to one another) that it must be a bomb attack, can't have been just thunder or an airplane or something. Only after that we heard what happened in the news. But given the current situation here, we knew that it was possible that something would happen. This kind of thing can happen anytime here in Istanbul."

10. Gross and his wife Theresa leaving blast scene, pan to military vehicle

Shop owners and residents started clearing away shattered windows on Tuesday after a car bomb killed 11 people and wounded 36 others in Istanbul during the morning rush-hour.

There was no immediate responsibility claim but Turkey has witnessed an increase in violence linked to Kurdish rebels and Islamic State militants.

Ahmet Aslan, who runs a shop near the blast site, told The Associated Press he saw lots of wounded people following the blast.

The blast shattered windows at a famous 16th-century Ottoman mosque, wrecked several cars and forced the cancellation of some exams at nearby Istanbul University.

Tuesday's attack was the fourth major bombing in Istanbul this year, with two of them targeting tourists and the others hitting security forces.

The spike in violence has led to a sharp dip in tourism, a mainstay of the Turkish economy.