Turkey reopens Bosphorus to transiting tankers

ISTANBUL: Turkish maritime authorities on Saturday re-opened Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait to transiting tankers after shutting the key shipping channel due to security reasons following an attempted coup, agent GAC said.

"The traffic for transit vessels is back to normal ... along with non-dangerous cargo carriers," the shipping agent said in an e-mail.

State broadcaster TRT said the military had declared martial law and a curfew, in a statement signed by a group calling itself the ‘Council for Peace in the Homeland’.



The military has a history of mounting coups to defend secular principles, but has not seized power directly since 1980