Ankara calls the closure of consulates of several European countries a psychological war.
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu called the closure of European countries’ consulates in Istanbul a “psychological war” against the country amid claims of U.S. terror threats.
The U.S. Embassy warned its citizens on Monday of the danger of terrorist attacks in central Istanbul. Churches, synagogues, diplomatic missions in Istanbul or other locations popular with foreigners, especially the Istanbul neighborhoods of Beyoglu, Galata, Taksim and Istiklal Street, could be targeted. Earlier, the consulates of Britain, the Netherlands and Germany in Istanbul stopped working because of the threat of terrorist attacks in the city center. The Russian Consulate General in Istanbul continues to work as usual.
“America and the West do not want us to be independent and free in this geography. At a time when we set a goal of attracting 60 million tourists, they started a new psychological war against Turkey,” Hürriyet newspaper quoted Soylu as saying.
According to the minister, “terrorism is not over in Turkey, but this topic is no longer the first item on the agenda.”
“We know who feeds the terrorist organizations. It is the United States that feeds the PKK-PYD (the Kurdistan Workers’ Party banned in Turkey). America and the West, who have been feeding them for years with money, logistics and human resources, have not given up their dream of creating a terrorist state,” Soylu said.
