Istanbul: French High School Closed for Security Reasons

The Beyoğlu campus of Pierre Loti French High School in Istanbul was temporarily closed for security reasons.

In the information message sent by the high school administration to the parents, it was written that the Beyoğlu campus will be closed on Thursday, February 2 and Friday, February 3, in connection with the diplomatic authorities.

The message said: “We apologize for this inconvenience beyond our control and will of course continue to keep you informed. Tarabya campus will remain open. We will keep you informed of the development of the situation on Friday to anticipate a return to normalcy as soon as possible. We would like to inform you that we are following the developments carefully and thank you for your understanding.”

What happened?

Allowing the far-right Rasmus Paludan to burn the Qur’an in Sweden on January 21 caused reactions in Turkey. While Paludan was burning the Qur’an in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, on January 27, after Sweden, Denmark’s ambassador to Ankara was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On January 27, the USA, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Sweden issued travel warnings for Turkey. The warning from the USA noted: “After the recent Qur’an burnings in Europe, the US government is warning its citizens against possible retaliatory attacks by terrorists on places of worship in Turkey. By targeting places of worship or places frequented by Westerners, terrorists can attack with little or no warning.”