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U.S. Embassy warns citizens about 'credible threats' in Turkey
A tourist takes a picture of the Hadrian's Gate, a triumphal arch in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya, a popular destination for German tourists in Turkey, January 13, 2016. PHOTO BY REUTERS/Kaan Soyturk
09/04/2016
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The United States warned its citizens on Saturday about "credible threats" to tourist areas in Turkey, particularly in Istanbul and the southwest coastal resort of Antalya.
Turkey has been hit by four suicide bombings already this year, the most recent one last month in Istanbul. The attacks have been blamed on the Islamic State militant group.
In what it called an "emergency message", the U.S. Embassy in Turkey warned American citizens to exercise extreme caution.
"The U.S. Mission in Turkey would like to inform U.S. citizens that there are credible threats to tourist areas, in particular to public squares and docks in Istanbul and Antalya," it said the statement emailed to U.S. citizens in Turkey.
Last month's attack in Istanbul's main shopping district killed three Israelis, two of whom held dual citizenship with the United States, and one Iranian. A separate attack in the city's historic heart in January killed 12 German tourists.
Turkey is facing multiple security threats. As part of a U.S.-led coalition, it is fighting Islamic State in neighboring Syria and Iraq. It is also battling Kurdish militants in its southeast, where a 2-1/2-year ceasefire collapsed last July, triggering the worst violence since the 1990s.
(Reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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