Turkey on High Alert after Istanbul Suicide Bombing
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - A high-profile football match in Istanbul was called off and the stadium evacuated two hours before kick-off on Sunday with the Turkish authorities citing an unspecified threat.
The cancellation of the derby game between Istanbul rivals Fenerbahce and Galatasaray came as the county maintains a heightened state of alert following Saturday’s suicide bombing.
In his first public appearance since the attack, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey will not give into militants.
“We will never surrender to the agenda of terror. We will defeat the terrorist organizations and the powers behind them by looking after the unity of our nation,” euronews quoted him as saying.
More than 200,000 members of the police are now on duty in major Turkish cities some of whom have set up checkpoints.
NATO-member Turkey is on heightened alert after a series of bombings which have killed more than 80 people, most recently a suicide bombing in Istanbul that killed five on Saturday.