A female suicide bomber on Tuesday killed herself and a Turkish policeman in a strike on the heart of Istanbul’s tourist district, the second attack on police to shake city within a week.

A female suicide bomber on Tuesday killed herself and a Turkish policeman in a strike on the heart of Istanbul's tourist district, the second attack on police to shake city within a week.

The government denounced the bombing as a "heinous terror attack" against the "new Turkey" under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and said only the bravery of police had prevented a higher toll.

The woman, in her mid-twenties, went into the police station in the Sultanahmet district and told the police in English she had lost her wallet before setting off her explosives, governor Vasip Sahin said on Turkish television.

The Sultanahmet district, which is the home of world famous attractions including the Blue Mosque and Aga Sophia museum, is visited by thousands of Turkish and foreign tourists every day.

One policeman was badly wounded and died of his wounds in hospital, the official Anatolia news agency reported.

A second policeman was lightly wounded. Both were staffing a tourist police post intended to assist tourists with questions and problems.