Hungary's consulate in Istanbul gets packets of yellow powder

Hungary's consulate in Istanbul gets packets of yellow powder

PanARMENIAN.Net - Hungary's consulate in Istanbul received packets of an unidentified yellow powder on Monday, Oct 27, the city governor's office said, after similar envelopes sent to five Western consulates in Turkey's largest city last week prompted security alerts, Reuters reported.

The consulates of the United States, Canada, France, Germany and Belgium have also received suspicious packages containing powder. Sixteen people from three of those missions were hospitalized as a precaution.

"Our units have been sent to the scene for the decontamination of the venue and of the personnel who have been exposed to the powder," the Istanbul governor's office said in a statement on its website.

The package at the Hungarian consulate is believed to have been sent at the same time as the others but was not opened until Monday morning as the mission was unstaffed over the weekend, the governor's office said.

The results of tests conducted on the other packages have yet to be released but Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu told the Hurriyet newspaper that the powder was not anthrax.

The minister was also quoted as saying that if the results of a fourth and final set of tests proved negative, the powder would be treated as non-harmful. He said the results were likely to be released later on Monday.

Ten of those hospitalized last week were from the Canadian consulate. Canadian diplomatic missions overseas have been on heightened alert since two separate militant attacks last week in the capital Ottawa and in Quebec.

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