Man pretending to carry bomb detained outside US consulate

ISTANBUL

Istanbul police have detained a man in front of the US consulate in Istanbul, after he threatened to detonate a bomb he said he was carrying.

Turkish police sealed off a street outside the consulate after the suspect was detained.

According to initial reports, the man, who is thought to have mental problems, was not carrying a bomb.
A U.S. diplomat told Reuters that the consulate had taken precautionary measures following a security alert.

Istanbul has been on high security alert since January, when a suicide bomber blew herself up at a police station in the historic Sultanahmet neighborhood, killing one officer and wounding another.   

In February 2013, a suicide bomber attacked the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, also killing Mustafa Akarsu, the Turkish security guard, at the entrance. The outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) claimed responsibility for the attack.