Talk of Cyber Attack as Huge Power Outages Hit Turkey
Dozens of Turkish cities and provinces on Tuesday were hit by a massive power outage that brought transportation to a standstill and disrupted services and businesses, which had no backup power.
The Turkish Electricity Transmission Company, TEIAS, cited a problem at the Turkey’s electricity power transmission network for the worst blackout in Turkey in several years.
Metro and tram services came to a halt in Istanbul, Ankara and three other major cities. Police officers were deployed to manage traffic at major junctions where traffic signals were disrupted. Firefighters were called to rescue people stuck in elevators.
Prime minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said that a crisis-desk at the Ministry of Energy has been established. He added: "We're considering all probabilities behind nationwide power outage, including terrorism."
Energy minister Taner Yıldız said that the fault was restored in some provinces as of midday. Due to the allegations that the fault was a cyber attack, Mr. Yıldız said: "We cannot confirm whether power outage was a cyber or terrorist attack."
Istanbul's metro, tram and Marmaray services have come to a halt due to the blackout.
