http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-13/turkey-turns-tables-with-warning-u-s-may-be-unsafe-for-tourists?cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_content=business&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialTurkey Turns Tables With Warning U.S. May Be Unsafe for Tourists Isobel Finkel
Nov.13, 2016
Foreign Ministry issues travel warning for anti-Trump protests
Says citizens should be on alert for racist attacks in U.S
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry issued a travel warning for the United States, citing dangers linked to protests and possible assaults by racists following the election of Donald Trump.
Turkey has more often been on the receiving end of such communiques over the last two years, a period when foreign tourists have been among those targeted by a series of terrorist attacks in major Turkish cities. It’s lashed out at the U.S. and other allies for issuing pronouncements about risks to their citizens on Turkish soil, with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu saying earlier this month that Istanbul and Ankara are just as safe as any U.S. state.
Yesterday’s notice on the Foreign Ministry’s website advises Turks living in or considering travel to the U.S. to take precautions by avoiding areas around the protests, which it noted were taking place in "different cities across the country" including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami, Portland, Los Angeles, Seattle and Oakland. It tells them to increase security measures and to “remain calm and apply to local police in the face of any possible xenophobic or racist attacks.”
The statement, which echoes some of the stern language the U.S. used to describe what’s happened during previous demonstrations against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, describes the demonstrations against Trump in Portland, where clashes yesterday turned violent, as an "uprising." On Oct. 29, the U.S. ordered family members of its consular staff in Istanbul to leave, and the most recent statement from the U.S. embassy in Ankara said it had intelligence that "extremist groups are continuing aggressive efforts to attack U.S. citizens in areas of Istanbul where they reside or frequent."
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