Four arrested and German and British missions in Türkiye closed
Germany and Britain have temporarily closed their diplomatic missions in Turkey over security concerns, with four people reportedly detained in connection with the threats to the missions.
The British Embassy in Türkiye issued a statement announcing that its representative office in Ankara will be closed on Friday (September 16).
Turkey has witnessed numerous terrorist operations in recent months, most of which have been claimed by the Islamic State (formerly ISIS) terrorist group and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants.
The British government has urged British citizens through its website to avoid traveling to the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey and to stay at least ten kilometers away from the border strip between Turkey and Syria.
Arrest of 4 suspects
The German government announced two days ago that all of its representative offices in Turkey, including the embassy in Ankara and the consulate in Istanbul, would be closed until further notice.
News sources have cited “security concerns” as the reason for the closure of the German and British representative offices in Turkey. The German Foreign Ministry previously announced the temporary closure of the embassy and consulate in Ankara and Istanbul to celebrate Eid al-Adha.
Ministry officials in Berlin said on Wednesday, September 14, that due to the Eid al-Adha celebrations this week, the activities of German representative offices in Turkey will be limited and closed to visitors.
On Friday, news sources in Türkiye reported the arrest of four suspects in the country, apparently linked to a possible threat to the German and British embassies.
The Haberturk news network and the official Anadolu Agency have reported that so far no evidence has been found linking the detainees to terrorist groups.
Second holiday this year
It is said that the preventive measures taken by the representative offices of European countries were based on security reports regarding a possible attack on these offices by extremist Islamists of the Islamic State.
The German newspaper "Bild" has reported evidence of a possible terrorist attack on the German embassy and consulate in Ankara and Istanbul, but according to the newspaper, its veracity has not yet been determined.
According to Bild, German schools in Türkiye may also be among the possible targets of terrorists, as they are currently closed for the holidays.
This is the second time this year that German representative offices in Türkiye have been closed due to security concerns.
In March, security services warned of the risk of attacks on the German embassy in Ankara and the country's consulate in Istanbul, based on information obtained from sources close to Islamic State terrorists.
In January this year, 12 German tourists were victims of a suicide attack in Istanbul, the perpetrator of which was identified as a member of the Islamic State group.
According to plans, the British and German embassies will resume normal operations from the beginning of next week if "security concerns" are resolved.
Source: DW
