Major power outage hits cities and provinces across Turkey
Power cuts reported in half of Turkey’s 81 provinces as subway, tram system partly shut in Istanbul
A major power outage hit Turkish cities and provinces on Tuesday, including the capital Ankara and Istanbul, where parts of the metro system shut down for several hours and shopping malls were plunged into darkness.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said all possible causes of the outage were being investigated and did not rule out sabotage, but said trouble with transmission lines was the most likely reason for the problem.
People carrying jerry cans queued at petrol stations to buy fuel for generators as the power cut dragged on for more than four hours. Road junctions were clogged as traffic lights went out.
“This is not an incident that we see frequently,” Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said during a trip to Bratislava, in comments broadcast on Turkish television.
“Whether or not terrorism is a high possibility or a low one, I can’t say at this stage. I can’t say either whether it is a cyber attack,” he said in response to questions from reporters.