U.S. Warns of “Credible Threats” in 2 Turkish Cities

WASHINGTON – The United States Consulate in Istanbul said on Saturday that it has received reports of “credible threats” in Turkey’s tourist areas, particularly in public squares and docks in that city and in Antalya.

“The U.S. Mission in Turkey would like to inform U.S. citizens that there are credible threats to tourist areas, in particular to public squares and docks in Istanbul and Antalya,” the consulate said in a statement, without mentioning when the threat had been discovered.

The U.S. State Department published the warning three weeks after the March 19 suicide attack in downtown Istanbul that left five people dead and about 30 wounded, and which was perpetrated by a young jihadist with ties to the Islamic State in Turkey.

After that attack, the United States at the end of March authorized the families of American military personnel and diplomats in the southern part of the country to leave Turkey, considering the terrorist threat to the area where they were living.

That decision, taken in coordination with the Turkish government, affected more than 600 families of diplomatic and defense personnel in the city of Adana (including Incirlik Air Base), as well as in the towns of Izmir and Mugla.

“Please exercise extreme caution if you are in the vicinity of such areas. For your personal safety, we urge you to monitor local media,” said the statement of the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul, distributed by the U.S. State Department.

Turkey is in a state of alert and security measures have been intensified to the maximum due to the four suicide attacks committed so far this year in Istanbul and Ankara, which killed more than 80 people.