Suspicious Powder Mailed to Istanbul Human Rights Office

A suspicious powder arrived at the Istanbul offices of the Human Rights Association (IHD) on 2 June 2006, concealed inside an envelope delivered through the Gulhane Post Office.

The outer envelope listed a foreign name as the sender and gave a address connected to a guesthouse in the Aksaray district. It was addressed to IHD Deputy Director Kiraz Bicici. Staff noticed a skull drawing on a smaller envelope tucked inside, and found the powder when they opened it.

Association officials alerted local authorities, who sent a hazmat team in protective gear to the scene. Six staff members who had handled the envelope were taken to a hospital for precautionary testing.

Authorities have collected samples of the powder for laboratory analysis to determine whether it poses any health risk. The IHD office was temporarily closed to visitors and fully disinfected before normal access resumed.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in June 2006, in its own words.