Germany on Thursday closed its embassy in Ankara and its general consulate in Istanbul because of a possible “imminent attack,” Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement.
#UPDATE German institutions in Turkey closed for security reasons https://t.co/MafYYfJJXZ pic.twitter.com/URWn83zrt9
— AFP news agency (@AFP) March 17, 2016
The ministry also said a German school in Istanbul had also been closed due to an “unconfirmed warning.”
On Tuesday, Germany issued an alert to its citizens in Ankara warning of a terror attack.
The German consulate in Istanbul is located in the vicinity of Taksim Square with the school a mile away in the Istiklal Caddesi area.
#BREAKING: Germany shuts #Ankara embassy on terror fear https://t.co/4nF0bklPGo pic.twitter.com/WLKlfH3EtU
— dwnews (@dwnews) March 17, 2016
Meanwhile, German magazine Der Spiegel has moved its Istanbul-based reporter Hasnain Kazim from Turkey to Vienna after Turkish authorities did not renew his press accreditation.
Florian Harms, editor of Spiegel Online, said in a statement the magazine viewed the conduct of the Turkish government as “unacceptable.”
“The behavior of the Turkish authorities has led us to conclude that our correspondent is no longer welcome because of the reporting he was doing there as a journalist,” Harms said.
The move comes two weeks after the government seized control of the opposition Zaman newspaper.
German magazine Der Spiegel says pulled reporter from #Turkey after authorities declined to renew his accreditation https://t.co/MfboVSsewd
— Humeyra Pamuk (@humeyra_pamuk) March 17, 2016
