Federal Tourism Agency has no information about possible presence of Russians on explosion scene in Istanbul
MOSCOW. Jan 12 (Interfax) - The Federal Tourism Agency has no information as to whether or not Russian tourists were present in the Istanbul district of Sultanahmet at the moment of the explosion on Tuesday afternoon, assistant to the agency head Svetlana Sergeyeva told the Interfax-Tourism portal.
"Rosturizm has no information about casualties in the center of Istanbul," Sergeyeva said.
There are no organized tourists from Russia in Turkey now, she added.
"Let me remind you that security of Russians was the purpose of the president's decree signed on November 28 to prohibit tour operators and agents from selling Turkish tours," Sergeyeva said.
The explosion occurred in the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, the location of main tourist attractions in the city, on Tuesday. According to the preliminary theory, the explosive device was set off by a suicide bomber standing near a group of tourists. At least ten persons were killed and 15 suffered injuries. According to the Turkish media, some of the casualties were tourists. Their nationality was not specified.