(VOVworld) - The British government shut its embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara on Friday for security reasons, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said on its website, without giving further details. The embassy had been closed from Monday to Thursday for the Eid al-Adha holiday this week, one of the two most important festivals in the Islamic calendar. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advised against all travel to within 10 km of the border with Syria and to the city of Diyarbakir.

Two days earlier, Germany also temporarily closed its embassy, consular offices and a school amid reports of the possibility of attacks during the Muslim festival.