Foreign Office advises caution following Istanbul terror attack
The Foreign Office has updated its advice to travellers to Istanbul following a terror attack on a nightclub on New Year’s Eve in which 39 people were killed.
More than two-thirds of those who died in the fashionable Reina nightclub on the banks of the Bosphorus were foreigners, although none are believed to be from the UK.
A further 69 people were injured, three of them seriously, when the gunman entered the club and started firing randomly at the 600-plus New Year’s Eve revellers.
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth office said: "There is an ongoing police operation in Istanbul as a result of the attack, and the attacker may still be at large. You should exercise vigilance and caution at this time, and follow the advice and instructions of the security authorities."
Turkish police have arrested 12 people following the attack, but the gunman is not thought to be amongst those taken into custody.
Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said authorities had fingerprints and a basic description of the attacker, and vowed to ‘speedily’ identify the suspect.
The shooting was the third fatal terror incident in Istanbul last year and followed a gun and bomb attack on Ataturk airport in June, in which 41 people died, a suicide bomb which killed four people in a shopping street in March and the gunning down of 12 German tourists near the Blue Mosque last January.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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