Cameras were off during attack on US embassy

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Daily News Photo, Sehattin Sönmez

The city camera system (MOBESE) was not working during the Feb. 1 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Ankara due to a black out in the district, Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Güler said, in response to a parliamentary question submitted by a Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy.

The question, submitted by Özcan Yeniçeri, focused on the MOBESE cameras during the Feb. 1 attack, and asked the causes behind the malfunction.

Güler said a light outlet’s counter had burned, causing the municipality to direct technicians to the area and cutting off power from the district between the morning hours of 9 to 11 a.m. and the afternoon hours of 12 to 1 p.m.

The power was back on when the work on the burned counter was finished, around 3:36 p.m., Güler added. The U.S. embassy had three cameras in line with the city’s security management system, which underwent 17 interventions due to malfunctions, black outs, maintenance work and routine checks, according to Güler’s response to Yeniçeri.