Massive Power Blackouts Hit Turkey

- Several provinces, including Istanbul and Ankara, were hit by massive power blackouts on Tuesday.

A technical problem in the system of the Turkish Electricity Conduction Company (TEİAŞ), which operates energy transmission lines, led to the massive outage, officials said.

Almost in all provinces throughout Turkey are affected by the outage, except Van, the only province importing electricity power from neighbouring Iran.

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality announced in a statement that metro and tram services had been halted due to the blackout.

In the western province of Kocaeli, one of the industrial centers of Turkey, several factories stopped production in the morning as most of the province was affected by the blackout.