An explosion at the heart of Istanbul’s old city, an area visited by up to 14 million tourists each year, has killed ten people and injured at least fifteen more, possibly from a German tourist group.
The blast occurred around 10.15am this morning in the At Meydan (“Square of the Horses”), a large public square standing on the site of the city’s ancient chariot racing stadium, the Hippodrome.
The iconic and much-visited Blue Mosque, one of Istanbul’s most famous historic buildings, lies just southeast of the square in the Sultanahmet district. Police cordoned the area off in case of a second blast, and closed the nearby tramline.
What is the security situation in Turkey?
The attack follows three bombings in Turkey claimed by Isil this year, including one in Ankara that killed more than 100 people. Clashes have also increased between Turkish security officials and the PKK Kurdish militants.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was the "top target for all terrorist groups in the region". He added that his country was "fighting against all of them equally".
• Why your holiday should be cheaper next year
What is being done to prevent terrorism?
All museums have airport type security x-ray scanners for bags and so do shopping malls. Mosques, for example, the Blue Mosque, don't however. There are plenty of tourist police on duty in and around the area of the attack but as it is a public square there are no x-ray scanners, which could have been why the attackers chose this location.
What is the advice for tourists travelling to Turkey?
Responding to the news, the UK’s Foreign Office (http://ift.tt/1J1bP2S) updated its travel advice as follows “there has been an explosion in the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul; if you’re in the affected area you should follow the instructions of the local security authorities”.
If you are planning a visit, avoid political demonstrations, be vigilant in crowded places and on busy public transport and keep an eye on the news.
The FO also advises against all travel to within 10 km of the border with Syria and against all but essential travel to the remaining areas of Sirnak, Mardin, Sanliurfa, Gaziantep, Kilis and Hatay provinces, as well as Siirt, Tunceli, Diyarbakir and Hakkari.
• Mapped: Terror threat around the world
How will the attacks affect Istanbul tourism?
If many of the victims are foreigners, the attack is inevitably going to have serious repercussions for the tourism industry in a city which attracts around 12 million visitors a year. The largest source of international arrivals to Turkey is Germany, followed by Russia and the UK, according to data released by Euromonitor.
Istanbul’s popularity as a city break destination has been growing in recent years, with the city seeing a 13 per cent increase in international arrivals between 2013 and 2014.
• Istanbul bomb updates: live
“The fact that the explosion occurred in the deep centre of Istanbul and that tourists from Germany and Norway were among the casualties is expected to result in further travel restrictions and flight banned towards the destination in the coming days,” predicted analysts at the company.
Turkey was in 2014 the world’s sixth most attractive destination, with a record of 34.8 million visitors. Euromonitor said outbound figures started to decline after the EU imposed sanctions against Russia over the crisis in Ukraine in 2015, impacting on the Russian flow towards Turkey – 4.5 million Russian tourists visited Turkey annually until 2015. After the suicide bombing killing 32 people in the Turkish town of Suruc last July, countries including Germany and Russia issued travel restrictions to their citizens.
• Mapped: Where in the world is safe for Britons?
The latest blast occurred close to the famous Egyptian Obelisk, erected by the Byzantine emperor Theodosius I in the late 4th century on the central reservation of the chariot racing track. Having personally led tours to this noted monument many times, often accompanied by fellow history enthusiasts from the UK and elsewhere around the globe, it’s hard not to be moved to the point of despair by this senseless tragedy.
In the short term security will be tighter than ever - meaning most visitors in the city right now (and fifteen million or so Istanbulites) will try, rightly, to go about their business as usual, though with one eye over their shoulder. And like Madrid in 2004, London in 2005 and Paris in 2015 to name but three major cities that have suffered major terrorist attacks in recent, life will go on and tourists slowly return.
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét