Ankara - Parts of downtown Ankara were evacuated Tuesday after police discovered a suspected explosive device in a van parked in a multi-storey car park. Governor Kemal Onal said the suspected explosive device was discovered in the Kurtulus district of Ankara by police with bomb- sniffing dogs.
It was not clear whether the van was actually carrying a bomb primed to explode or whether it was merely carrying explosives.
The van was displaying fake number plates, Onal said.
Onal said police in Ankara started sweeps of the city on September 10, ahead of the anniversary of the al-Qaeda attacks on the Twin Towers in New York and the September 12 anniversary of the 1980 military coup in Turkey.
The discovery of the suspected explosive device comes almost four months after a suicide bomb blast in Ankara killed seven people, including the bomber, and left around 100 people injured.
The suicide bomber identified as being responsible for the May 22 blast was believed to have acted alone, authorities said at the time.
