Turkey tourists urged to be wary

IRISH people travelling to Turkey should “exercise the utmost vigilance and caution” given the recent spate of bombings in the country, the Department of Foreign Affairs has said.

However, the department is not advising against travel there, a recommendation generally reserved for only the most extreme cases, such as Iraq.

Yesterday saw the sixth explosion in a week to cause injuries in Turkey.

The explosion in a rubbish container in the southern city of Mersin injured one person. Police detained a man in connection with the blast, but the motive behind it was not immediately clear.

The explosion came on a day that saw hundreds of Turks march to denounce the week’s five previous bomb attacks, several of which were claimed by an outlawed Kurdish militant group.

The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons has warned it will turn Turkey “into hell” if the Kurdish-dominated south-east is not granted autonomy.

In its advice, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the threat from terrorism in Turkey “remained high” and that the frequency of attacks had increased in the last year.

“Further attacks, including in tourist areas, could well occur,” the department said. “Such attacks are, by their nature, random and indiscriminate and cannot be predicted in advance. Irish citizens should take this into account in considering travel to Turkey.

“Those who travel there are reminded of the need to exercise the utmost vigilance and caution, particularly in public places that are frequented by foreigners, and especially on public transport in tourist resorts.”

In July of last year, Waterford student Tara Whelan was killed along with four others when the minibus on which she was travelling was bombed in the popular resort of Kusadasi.

Meanwhile, the department says that its advice on Egypt, last updated in July, has not changed.

The southern part of the country’s Sinai Peninsula was placed on a high-security alert yesterday after Israel warned its citizens of an imminent terror attack.

The department’s advice states: “Irish citizens should be aware that there is a threat of terrorism in Egypt.

“Security incidents can occur without warning. Notwithstanding the stringent measures taken by the Egyptian authorities to safeguard visitors, Irish citizens travelling to Egypt should maintain a high level of personal security awareness and exercise extreme caution.”