Embassies in Turkey warned against security threats, sources say

ANKARA (Reuters) – At least two Western embassies have been warned against fresh security threats in the Turkish capital Ankara and Serbia warned its citizens against travelling to the country, two weeks after a bomb exploded in the heart of Istanbul.

Six people were killed in the attack on a busy pedestrian avenue, which Turkish authorities blamed on Kurdish militants. The PKK and YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) denied involvement.

Three Western European embassies and one major international organisation told Reuters they were warned by Turkish authorities against potential threats, asking not to be named due to sensitivity of the issue.

The major organisation, in an email to staff seen by Reuters, highlighted risks at shopping malls, bus stations, airports due to the potential for retaliatory attacks by militants.

The Turkish defence and interior ministries declined to comment on the warnings.

Meanwhile, Serbia’s Tanjug news agency on Wednesday cited the country’s foreign minister Ivica Dacic as saying its nationals should avoid travel to Turkey and especially to Ankara in the coming weeks due to potential attacks.

“I want to warn the citizens that according to information from the security agencies terrorist attacks can be expected in the next few weeks, and in this case this information refers to the capital of Turkey, Ankara,” Dacic said in a statement to Tanjug.

The warning may also apply to other parts of Turkey, Dacic said, and warned Serbian nationals to avoid travelling there, unless they have an urgent need.

“If our citizens are already there, they should avoid crowded areas such as pedestrian zones, metro, bus and train stations and other similar places,” he said.

The PKK launched an insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict. It is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic in Belgrade, and Ece Toksabay and Huseyin Hayatsever in Ankara; Editing by Alison Williams)