British embassy in Ankara closed

ISTANBUL: The British government has shut its embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara on Friday for security reasons, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said on its website, without giving further details.

“The British Embassy Ankara will be closed to the public on Friday 16 September for security reasons," the foreign office said late on Thursday.

The embassy had been closed from Monday to Thursday for the Eid-ul-Azha holiday this week, one of the two most important festivals of the Islamic calendar.

Turkey has been repeatedly targeted in the past by militants, both Islamist and Kurdish.

A suicide bomber at a wedding in the southeastern city of Gaziantep last month killed more than 54 people, including 22 children, the deadliest such bombing this year.

That attack is believed to have been carried out by Islamic State militants.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office also advised Britons against travel to within 10 kilometres of the Syrian border and to Diyarbakir.