Story highlights
Suspicious items at Istanbul's Canadian, German, Belgian consulates investigated
Report: No one at Canadian Consulate is exhibiting alarming reactions to substance
German Foreign Office in Berlin reports a suspicious object at its consulate in Istanbul
Belgian Consulate: A suspicious substance found in an envelope is being investigated
Turkish authorities on Friday were investigating suspicious substances or objects at the Canadian, German and Belgian consulates in Istanbul, officials said.
Canadian officials reported receiving a letter containing an unidentified yellow substance Friday, Turkey’s semiofficial Anadolu news agency reported.
A person who opened the letter was directly exposed to the substance, and six people nearby may have been indirectly exposed, but no one was exhibiting alarming reactions, a representative of Turkey’s emergency management agency said.
Chemical, radiological and nuclear experts were investigating the substance, and as a precaution were decontaminating the area and the seven people, the agency said.
Authorities also are investigating security incidents at the German and Belgian consulates in Istanbul, the agency said without elaborating.
The Belgian Consulate said that police were investigating a substance found in an envelope that had been sent there.
The incident at the German Consulate involves a suspicious object, according to the German Foreign Office in Berlin. The office didn’t elaborate about the object, but it said that Turkish authorities had been notified and that no one at the consulate came into contact with the object.
Journalist Zeynep Bilginsoy reported from Istanbul, and CNN’s Jason Hanna wrote in Atlanta. CNN’s Ben Brumfield, Yousif Basil and Lucy Pawle contributed to this report.