Travelling to Turkey? You may face tighter security in Istanbul

Posted: 12/01/2016

12 January 2016 - RPS Partnership

As more suicide bombs go off around Europe and other regions, you may be concerned about your staff travelling abroad. RPS runs travel security awareness courses for staff travelling overseas. Please contact us on [email protected] for more information.  

We also run courses to train your staff to go to hostile environments and enable them to provide support for projects in other remote, complex and difficult locations. We can train, write security policies and plans as well as assist you with planning for those all important contingencies. We can also train your crisis management teams to be able to react to events, which may lead to a crisis for your organisation. We have just written the policies, plans and procedures for a London based NGO, which was then followed up by crisis management training for the senior management team and supporting staff.

Here is what we know about the bomb in Istanbul.

An explosion at around 1020hrs local time in Istanbul’s popular tourist district of Sultanahmet has killed at least 10 people and wounded many others, according to the Istanbul governor’s office, cited in Reuters. The explosion took place in Sultanahmet Square in front of the popular Blue Mosque and the Obelisk of Theodosius, where police have sealed off the area, fearing a possible second explosion. Casualty numbers could increase as more information emerges from the scene. Unverified initial reports suggest the blast was caused by a suicide bomber.

The terrorist threat in Turkey is currently elevated following an attack involving two suicide bombers in Ankara in October that killed 103 people. The attack was blamed on Islamic State, which has also carried out mass casualty attacks in the south of the country. Other groups that have previously carried out bombings in Istanbul include the outlawed Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), which has intensified its offensive against the government since mid-2015, and the leftist Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), whose attacks are normally small-scale but frequently target Istanbul.

What will this mean for travellers to Turkey?

The attack will see significant security restrictions imposed in Istanbul, including increased patrols and road closures around sensitive sites, including major hotels, tourist sites, embassies, government buildings and transport hubs. The bombings in Ankara last October also provoked widespread protests in multiple cities in the aftermath of the attacks, as mourners and demonstrators criticised the government’s alleged security failings. 

As more suicide bombs go off around Europe and other regions, you may be concerned about your staff travelling abroad. RPS runs travel security awareness courses for staff travelling overseas. Please contact us on [email protected] for more information. 

We also run courses to train your staff to go to hostile environments and enable them to provide support for projects in other remote, complex and difficult locations. We can train, write security policies and plans as well as assist you with planning for those all important contingencies. We can also train your crisis management teams to be able to react to events, which may lead to a crisis for your organisation. We have just written the policies, plans and procedures for a London based NGO, which was then followed up by crisis management training for the senior management team and supporting staff.

Information provided by PGI

With thanks to http://issasci.org/ for the photo

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