A massive power outage spread across Turkey on Tuesday, blacking out a broad swath of the country and affecting air traffic control through the country’s airspace.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said all possible causes of the blackout were under investigation, including terrorism.
Trams and subways were idled in Istanbul — with more than 14 million inhabitants, the largest city in the country and the fifth largest in the world. Homes and offices were left without electricity as well.
“I am sitting in my apartment,” CNN producer Gul Tuysuz said from Istanbul. “No lights. No electricity.”
Official won’t rule out cyberattack
The Russian television network RT reported that the Turkish capital, Ankara — some 250 miles away — was also affected as the outage extended to anywhere between 23 and 40 provinces. The country has 81 provinces in all.
Flightradar24, which maps real-time flight data on the Internet, tweeted that the outage had affected air traffic and said 11 of its 16 air traffic control receivers were not working.
Turkey’s semiofficial Anadolu Agency quoted Energy Minister Taner Yildiz as saying the cause of the outage was unknown. Yildiz, speaking during a visit to Slovakia, said he could neither confirm nor deny that a cyberattack had created the blackout, the Anadolu Agency reported.
The news agency also quoted the Turkish Electricity Transmission Co. as blaming the outage on a problem with transmission lines. The company reportedly said an investigation was in progress as were efforts to restore power.
