Monday's bombing in Antalya, at the height of the tourism season, was the third such attack to have hit Turkey in 48 hours, all of which were claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK).

TAK said in a statement posted on their website that the attack was a response to what it called as Ankara's mistreatment and oppression of its Kurdish population.

The group also objected to strict sanctions imposed on Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence in a Turkish jail, and vowed more violence if Ankara failed to alter its policies.

"We are and will continue to hit the murderous, colonialist fascist Turkish Republic," it said.

The blast occurred opposite a market near a municipal building in the city's bustling centre, lined with restaurants, cafes and bars, killing three Turkish men and wounding 20 others, one of them critically.

Local police spokesman Akif Aktug told reporters late Monday that the cause of the blast remained unknown, but said they were looking for two suspects.

The CNN-Turk news channel said a third suspect had been detained and was under interrogation.

Local police and officials refused to comment.

The explosion in Antalya, a city popular with both European and Turkish tourists, came just a day after a slate of bombings in Marmaris, a seaside town in southwestern Turkey, and the country's biggest city Istanbul.

Twenty-one people, including 10 Britons, were injured in Marmaris early Monday when a bomb ripped through a mini-bus travelling on the main street, while the bombing in Istanbul late Sunday injured six Turks.

TAK on Monday claimed responsibility for both of the attacks which apparently aimed to hurt the lucrative tourism sector by scaring off tourists.

Turkish officials say TAK is a front for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which, led by Ocalan, has been fighting the Ankara government since 1984. The PKK claims TAK is a splinter group over which it has no control.

TAK, which in April threatened to attack tourist destinations, has claimed 12 other bomb attacks in urban centres across the country this year in which six people were killed and more than 100 others injured.

Police in the western city of Izmir, meanwhile detained a suspected PKK member in possession of 2.5 kilogrammes (5.5 pounds) of plastic explosives who was planning bomb attacks in the city following the blasts in Marmaris and Antalya, the Anatolia news agency reported.

The Finnish presidency of the European Union has condemned the attacks. "The Presidency condemns these senseless acts of terror. There is no justification whatsoever for such attacks on innocent civilians. The Presidency expects that those responsible will be brought to justice", it said in a statement.

Condemnation also came from the 46-nation Council of Europe.

"Europeans need to form a united front in the battle against terrorism," the head of the council's parliamentary assembly, René van der Linden, said.

"Our message to terrorists is plain and simple -- there is no place for them in our societies".

The tourism sector is a vital source of income for the Turkish economy as it stages a recovery from two massive crises in 2001 and 2003.

It accounts for some 5.5 percent of Turkey's gross national product and brought in 18.1 billion dollars (14.1 billion euros) in 2005.

In 2006, the sector saw a 6.4-percent drop in the number of foreign visitors since the beginning of the year compared to the same period last year, according to official statistics.

Sector representatives remained pessimistic on Tuesday.

"Just when we think things are looking up, something comes up. Authorities should introduce more security measures,", Osman Ayik, the head of Association of Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers told the daily Vatan newspaper.

"I fear we may see unfortunate incidents like this in the coming seasons," he added.

Travel agents contacted by AFP said Tuesday that they had not received requests from customers to cancel reservations.