June 29, 2016•Update: July 05, 2016
By Esra Kaymak Avci
WASHINGTON
The U.S. did not issue a travel warning for Turkey earlier this week because of intelligence about an impending attack in Istanbul, the State Department said Wednesday.
"We reissued a travel warning the other day, but that was not indicative of an imminent threat or an imminent attack," agency spokesman Mark Toner said during a press briefing.
"Had we had that information, of course we would have shared it with Turkish authorities, but we didn't."
Toner stressed that the State Department had no kind of "actionable intelligence" and that it was an ordinary travel warning.
"If we had information, credible information about an imminent threat or a developing situation, even if it wasn't a terrorist attack, but any, you know -- a natural disaster pending -- looming, what we'd use is an emergency message," he said.
Toner insisted that he did not want to unnecessarily link the travel warning and the attack in Istanbul and added that the U.S. was "not saying Americans should not travel to Turkey" but just to be aware of any possible dangers while visiting the country.
He was reluctant to name Daesh as responsible for the deadly attack Tuesday at Ataturk International Airport and said the Turkish investigation would play itself out.
Three suicide bombers attacked the main airport in the city, killing 42 victims and leaving more than 200 others injured.
A day before the attack, the State Department released a travel advisory that warned its citizens of increased terrorist threats in Turkey and from travel in the country’s south, particularly to areas near its Syrian border.
