US orders families of consulate workers in Istanbul to leave

U.S. service members participate in an Armed Forces Flag Cordon hosted by the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, in honor of His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister at the State Department in Washington, D.C., May 16, 2013.

WASHINGTON — The State Department is ordering family members of employees posted to the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul to leave because of security concerns.

In a statement issued Saturday, the State Department says the decision is based on security information indicating extremist groups are continuing aggressive efforts to attack U.S. citizens in areas of Istanbulwhere they reside or frequent.

The Consulate General remains open and fully staffed. The order applies only to the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, not to other U.S. diplomatic posts in Turkey.

The travel warning issued Saturday updates a warning last week of increased threats from terrorist groups throughout Turkey. U.S. citizens were advised to avoid travel to southeast Turkey and carefully consider the risks of travel to and throughout the country.

The State Department said international and indigenous terrorist organizations in Turkey have been targeting U.S. as well as other foreign tourists.

Anti-American sentiment runs high in Turkey despite its status as a NATO ally and a member of the anti-ISIS coalition.

In addition to the terrorist threat, friction between Washington and Ankara has increased since a failed July coup in Turkey, which Turkish officials blame on a U.S.-based cleric who lives in self-exile in Pennsylvania. Turkey has requested his extradition, but the U.S. has yet to make a decision. </s> WASHINGTON — The State Department is ordering family members of employees posted to the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul to leave because of security concerns.

In a statement issued Saturday, the State Department says the decision is based on security information indicating extremist groups are continuing aggressive efforts to attack U.S. citizens in areas of Istanbul where they reside or frequent.

The Consulate General remains open and fully staffed. The order applies only to the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, not to other U.S. diplomatic posts in Turkey.

The travel warning issued Saturday updates a warning last week of increased threats from terrorist groups throughout Turkey. U.S. citizens were advised to avoid travel to southeast Turkey and carefully consider the risks of travel to and throughout the country.

The State Department said international and indigenous terrorist organizations in Turkey have been targeting U.S. as well as other foreign tourists.

Anti-American sentiment runs high in Turkey despite its status as a NATO ally and a member of the anti-ISIS coalition.

In addition to the terrorist threat, friction between Washington and Ankara has increased since a failed July coup in Turkey, which Turkish officials blame on a U.S.-based cleric who lives in self-exile in Pennsylvania. Turkey has requested his extradition, but the U.S. has yet to make a decision. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department is ordering family members of employees posted to the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul to leave because of security concerns.

In a statement issued Saturday, the State Department says the decision is based on security information indicating extremist groups are continuing aggressive efforts to attack U.S. citizens in areas of Istanbul where they reside or frequent.

The Consulate General remains open and fully staffed. The order applies only to the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, not to other U.S. diplomatic posts in Turkey.

The travel warning issued Saturday updates a warning last week of increased threats from terrorist groups throughout Turkey. U.S. citizens were advised to avoid travel to southeast Turkey and carefully consider the risks of travel to and throughout the country.

The State Department said international and indigenous terrorist organizations in Turkey have been targeting U.S. as well as other foreign tourists.

Anti-American sentiment runs high in Turkey despite its status as a NATO ally and a member of the anti-ISIS coalition.

In addition to the terrorist threat, friction between Washington and Ankara has increased since a failed July coup in Turkey, which Turkish officials blame on a U.S.-based cleric who lives in self-exile in Pennsylvania. Turkey has requested his extradition, but the U.S. has yet to make a decision. </s> The US government has ordered all civilian family members of its Istanbul consulate staff to leave Turkey because of increasing threats from terrorist organizations, according to a travel warning issued Saturday by the US State Department.

"The Department of State made this decision based on security information indicating extremist groups are continuing aggressive efforts to attack US citizens in areas of Istanbul where they reside or frequent," the warning said.

The warning goes beyond the one issued Monday that urged Americans to avoid traveling to southeast Turkey, especially urban centers near the Turkish-Syrian border, because of recent terrorist attacks.

Turkey has become increasingly volatile in the past year because of terrorist attacks at home and its involvement in the Syrian civil war.

ISIS is suspected in a June attack at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport that left 44 people dead, and an explosion at an August wedding in Gaziantep , not far from the border with Syria, that killed at least 54 people.

The Turkish army suspects the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was behind a September car bombing in southeast Turkey that killed at least 18 people . That group has been accused of a string of bombings targeting Turkish police and army assets. Not all the violence involves militant groups. A failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July led to a massive number of arrests and the imposition of a state of emergency. Meanwhile, Turkey's intrusion into the Syrian civil war has strained relations with the United States. Turkey says it wants to help Syrian rebel forces fight ISIS, but Turkish warplanes have also bombed US-allied Kurdish fighters who are also fighting ISIS. Kurds are a large ethnic minority along the Turkish-Syrian border. The United States has evacuated other dependents from Turkey. In March, the Pentagon ordered family members to leave Incirlik Airbase in southeast Turkey because of danger from ISIS. The State Department also ordered families of employees of the US consulate in Adana to evacuate the country. The State Department didn't say how many family members would be affected by the Saturday evacuation order. The warning said that the consulate remains open and fully staffed and that the order does not apply to other diplomatic posts in Turkey. US diplomatic posts in Turkey have been attacked in the past. In July 2009, gunmen fired on the US Consulate in Istanbul, and in February 2013 a suicide bomber attacked the US Embassy in Ankara. </s> "The Department of State made this decision based on security information indicating extremist groups are continuing aggressive efforts to attack U.S. citizens in areas of Istanbul where they reside or frequent," the department said in a statement.

The State Department said the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul remains open and said the order does not apply to any other U.S. diplomatic posts in Turkey.

Saturday's warning updates previous State Department advisories of "increased threats from terrorist groups throughout Turkey." The department advises U.S. citizens to avoid travel to southeast Turkey and also advises caution on the risks of traveling anywhere in the country. (Reporting by Leslie Adler; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) </s> ANKARA: The United States on Tuesday closed its missions to Turkey for the day after a shooting incident overnight outside the American embassy in Ankara that followed the assassination of the Russian ambassador in the Turkish capital.

“An individual approached the US Embassy Ankara main gate and discharged a firearm,” the embassy said in a statement, adding no one was hurt and the individual was detained.

As a result, the embassy and consulates in Istanbul and Adana were closed for normal operations, it added.

The incident took place at 3:50 a.m. (0050 GMT) Tuesday, hours after a Turkish policeman shot dead Russian ambassador Andrei Karlov as he was opening a photography exhibition.

The US embassy is located in Ankara directly on the other side of the street from the arts center where the shooting took place in the Turkish capital.

The United States has repeatedly warned its citizens of security risks in Turkey after a string of attacks blamed on Kurdish militants and jihadists this year.

“The US Mission reminds US citizens to review personal security plans” and to “maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security,” it said. AFP </s> ISTANBUL: Turkey on Friday issued a travel warning urging its citizens to reconsider their travel plans to the United States, citing the risk of terror attacks and arbitrary detentions.

The move follows a US State Department advisory on Wednesday which urged Americans to reconsider visiting Turkey due to security concerns.

A statement by the Turkish foreign ministry -- using almost identical language to the original US advisory -- warns of an increase in terrorism and "risk of arbitry detention" in America.

Relations between the two NATO allies have become increasingly strained over a number of issues, including Turkey's detention of two Turkish employees of US diplomatic missions in the country.

Washington suspended visa services for Turkish citizens after Istanbul consulate staffer Metin Topuz was arrested in October over suspected links to a cleric blamed for Turkey's 2016 failed coup.

In a tit-for-tat move at the time, Turkey responded by suspending visa services.

That crisis was resolved in December when the US said it had won assurances from Ankara that no further legal proceedings would be launched against its staff, though Turkey insisted it had given no assurances.

Meanwhile, Turkey has since March 2017 been holding Hamza Ulucay, a veteran translator from the US consulate in Adana, on charges of links to Kurdish militants.

The two countries have also fallen out over the US's refusal to extradite US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey holds responsible for the 2016 coup attempt, and US military support for Kurdish rebels in Syria which Ankara considers a terrorist group.

The recent US State Department travel advisory listed a rigorous "Level 3" warning for Turkey, saying "some areas have increased risk".

It singled out areas along the Turkish-Syrian border and area where the Turkish army is fighting Kurdish militants, warning that US citizens could be accused of being linked to terror groups with "scant or secret evidence and grounds that appear to be politically motivated".

In return, the Turkish foreign ministry said Turkish public sector employees in the US had been detained on "baseless allegations."

Ankara reacted furiously to last week's conviction in New York of Turkish banker Mehmet Hakan Atilla on charges of violating sanctions against Iran.

Meanwhile several bodyguards of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have been indicted in absentia over a fracas during his visit to the US last year. </s> ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey summoned the U.S. ambassador in Ankara to protest what it called "aggressive and unprofessional actions" by U.S. security personnel against Turkish bodyguards in Washington during President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit last week.

The move Monday appears to be in retaliation to calls in the United States for strong action against the Turkish security officers who were seen hitting and kicking protesters outside the Turkish ambassador's residence in Washington during Erdogan's visit.

"It has been formally requested that the U.S. authorities conduct a full investigation of this diplomatic incident and provide the necessary explanation," the Turkish embassy stated in a press release. "During the meeting with the Ambassador, it was emphasized that the lapses of security experienced during our President's stay in Washington, which were caused by the inability of US authorities to take sufficient precautions at every stage of the official program, will not overshadow what in every other aspect was a very successful and important visit."

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said the U.S. ambassador was given a "written and verbal protest" against actions that is said were "contrary to diplomatic rules and practices."

The State Department has not responded to a request for comment. </s> U.S.-Turkey Dispute Over Washington Protest Heats Up

A diplomatic dispute deepened when Turkey summoned the American ambassador in Ankara to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Monday, to protest "the aggressive and unprofessional actions taken" by American security personnel against Turkish security officers.

It stems from a violent confrontation that broke out in front of the Turkish ambassador's residence in Washington, D.C., on May 17 — the same day Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was visiting President Trump at the White House. Video appears to show Erdogan's security forces pushing past D.C.'s Metropolitan Police officers and violently breaking up a group of protesters, knocking down some and repeatedly kicking them in the head. Around a dozen people were injured.

D.C.'s police chief called it "a brutal attack on peaceful protesters."

But now Turkey is requesting that "US authorities conduct a full investigation of this diplomatic incident and provide the necessary explanation."

The day after the incident, the Turkish Embassy blamed it on demonstrators, calling them, "groups affiliated with the PKK, which the U.S. and Turkey have designated as a terrorist organization." The embassy's statement goes on to say, "The demonstrators began aggressively provoking Turkish-American citizens who had peacefully assembled to greet the President. The Turkish-Americans responded in self-defense."

The U.S. State Department took a different stand. It released a statement the same day, sharply condemning what happened and seemingly laying blame on Turkey: "Violence is never an appropriate response to free speech, and we support the rights of people everywhere to free expression and peaceful protest. We are communicating our concern to the Turkish government in the strongest possible terms."

The demonstration was arranged by pro-Kurdish and Armenian groups protesting a range of Erdogan policies.

Under his rule, Turkey has seen a crackdown on freedom of expression, with dozens of media outlets shuttered and an array of judges, journalists and civil servants jailed following last summer's failed coup attempt.

The New York Times reports that Turkey's summoning of Ambassador John Bass appears to be a tit-for-tat response to the State Department's summoning of the Turkish ambassador to Washington.

The Turkish foreign ministry's statement closes by saying, "the lapses of security experienced during our President's stay in Washington, which were caused by the inability of US authorities to take sufficient precautions at every stage of the official program, will not overshadow what in every other aspect was a very successful and important visit."
The United States orders all civilian staff family members to leave its consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, due to increasing threats from terrorist organizations.