Israel urged its citizens in Turkey on Monday to leave “as soon as possible” in an upgraded travel advisory predicting possible follow-up attacks to the March 19 suicide bombing in İstanbul.
Three Israeli tourists and an Iranian were killed in the attack which took place in İstiklal Street, İstanbul, and thought to be carried out by the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The attack prompted the counter-terrorism bureau in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office to issue a generalized “level 3” warning against travel to Turkey, according to Reuters.
A statement by the bureau raised this to “level 2” on Monday, signifying what it called a “high concrete threat” that Islamic State or similar groups would attack Turkish tourist attractions. It did not elaborate on what prompted the alert.
The statement said Israelis should avoid going to Turkey and, if already there, “depart as soon as possible”.
If a “level 1” alert were by issued by Israel, that would urge citizens to leave the country “forthwith”.