Security measures to get boost in Istanbul after Sultanahmet blast

ISTANBUL - Doğan News Agency

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu hosts a security meeting at Çankaya Palace in Ankara on Jan. 13, 2016, after the Sultanahmet bomb attack that killed 10 tourists. DHA Photo

A decision for additional security measures in Istanbul’s most crowded areas has been taken during a security meeting in Istanbul Governorate on Jan. 13.

Chaired by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, the meeting hosted Interior Minister Efkan Ala, Health Minister Mehmet Müezzinoğlu, Istanbul Governor Vasip Şahin, Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş, Director General of Public Security Mustafa Çalışkan, undersecretaries and officials from the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), gendarmerie and the Police Intelligence Agency. During the closed-door meeting that lasted three hours, Davutoğlu was briefed by relevant branches regarding the investigation over the deadly Sultanahmet attack.

Accordingly, a decision was taken to boost security measures in crowded places by increasing the presence of security team members and assuring advanced technological support such as cameras in these public spaces.

Davutoğlu also spoke afterwards with injured tourist guide Sibel Satıroğlu, who is one of the key witnesses of the attack. 

An Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) suicide bomber, identified as 28-year-old Nabil Fadli, killed 10 tourists and wounded another 15 when he blew himself up in Istanbul’s touristic Sultanahmet Square on Jan. 12.