The German Federal Foreign Office announced on March 17 that the German embassy in Ankara and the German consulate in Istanbul have been closed over the threat of a possible attack as German Foreign Minister said they received very serious terror attack intelligence against German representation offices in Turkey.

“We have received very concrete intelligences over the fact that there have been preparations for terror attacks at German representation offices in Turkey. Therefore, I decided for the closure of Embassy in Ankara, Consulate in Istanbul and German schools in the two cities last night. This was a necessary precaution for the protection of German citizens and working people have priority,” German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier said at an urgent press meeting in Berlin.

Steinmeier also advised German citizens to closely follow travel warnings in the upcoming days.

Meanwhile, German embassy officials in Ankara told Hürriyet Daily News the move was a “one-day precaution taken due to [an] unconfirmed indication of an attack.”

Accordingly, the German consulate in Istanbul and the Deutsche Schule Istanbul school have also been closed.

“The German Federal Republic Consulate is closed as precaution due to a serious warning,” a note at the entrance of the consulate building read.

The Deutsche Schule Istanbul also announced the suspension of classes for one day due to security reasons.
The school management issued a message to parents and students saying the school would be closed for one day on March 17 following a warning from the German consulate in Istanbul.

In addition, Turkish police stood watch for about two hours in front of the German Consulate building in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul as well as riot police and a riot control vehicle were deployed to the area.

Police also towed a car parked on the consulate’s street that belonged to a Syrian living in Turkey.

Turkish parliament has passed a bill to shut down thousands of private schools, most of them run by the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.

On Friday, some 226 lawmakers, in the 550-seat house, voted in favor and 22 against the bill that said the network of schools must be closed by September 1, 2015.

The move is considered as the latest response on the part of Prime Minister Recep Tayytip Erdogan to the corruption scandal that has shaken his administration.

Erdogan has blamed his rival Gulen for prompting the graft investigation, accusing him of seeking to create “a parallel state” in Turkey.

Some 4,000 private schools in the country are run by Gulen, that are considered as a major source of income for his Hizmet (Service) movement.

Gulen is an influential figure in Turkey and reportedly has many followers in some arms of the country’s state apparatus such as the judiciary, the police and secret services.

The government floated the idea of closing the schools in November, when Erdogan said that he wanted to abolish an unfair and “illegal” system of education that turned children into “competition horses.”

Turkey’s crisis erupted on December 17, after dozens of government officials and prominent businessmen close to Erdogan were arrested on graft charges.

On December 25, 2013, Erdogan announced a major cabinet reshuffle replacing 10 ministers including the economy, interior, and environment ministers, who had resigned from their posts after their sons were arrested in the scandal.

On Friday, a Turkish court released the last five suspects, including the sons of two former ministers.

Erdogan welcomed the release, saying that it was “what I expected. Justice has been served.”

No one safe in Turkey German embassy, consulate in Turkey closed over threat of possible attack

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