Fireworks illuminate the Bosphorus as Istanbul welcomes 2020

Duvar English

Turkey has welcomed 2020 with celebrations and special events across the country, Istanbul hosting the most spectacular of all with fireworks which illuminated the Bosphorus Strait.

Turkish authorities were on high alert across the country all day to prevent any incidents happening during the celebrations. In Istanbul, there was police presence in every corner of the neighborhoods which are accustomed to being center of attraction during the New Year's Eve celebrations.

The Interior Ministry on Dec. 29 announced that a total of 317,121 security personnel would be on duty on New Year’s Eve across the country to ensure security at the maximum level. Some 83,398 out of this figure will include gendarmerie forces while the remaining 233,723 will be composed of police officers.

In Istanbul 60,716 security officers were on the field while 1,858 motorized units, including eight aerial and marine vessels participated were used to take security measures.

Turkish police detained 94 people suspected of ties to ISIS in nationwide raids on Dec. 30 ahead of New Year celebrations, two months after the group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed.

Policehave rounded up jihadist militants in late December in the last twoyears, since New Year's Day in 2017 when a gunman killed 39 people inan Istanbul nightclub in an attack claimed by the militant group.