US suspends visa services in Turkey over possible attacks

ISTANBUL- Agence France-Presse

The U.S. said on Oct. 23 it has decided to suspend visa services at its missions in Turkey after it received "credible reports of potential terrorist attacks."

The embassy in Ankara said in a statement on its website that consular services would be suspended at the embassy as well as consulates in Istanbul, the southern city of Adana and the Aegean coastal city of Izmir.

It said it "has received credible reports of potential terrorist attacks and kidnappings against U.S. citizens and foreign nationals in Istanbul, including against the US consulate general, as well as potentially other locations in Turkey."

It advised U.S. citizens "to exercise heightened caution in locations where Americans or foreigners may gather, including large office buildings or shopping malls".

In 2013, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the embassy in Ankara, killing himself and a Turkish security guard. A far-left radical group claimed the attack.

In 2016, the U.S. government ordered all civilian relatives of its Istanbul consulate staff to leave Turkey because of increasing threats from terrorist groups.

Turkey was hit by a string of attacks in 2015 and 2016 by several groups including the Islamic State group.