Indian children in Turkey for sports meet safe: Sushma

New Delhi, July 16 (IANS) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday said that Indian schoolchildren and officials who had gone to Turkey, rocked by a coup attempt, to participate in an international sports meet are safe.

“There are 148 Indian children and 38 officials in Trabzon #Turkey. They are all safe,” Sushma Swaraj tweeted.

“The games are on. They will start returning in batches from 18th July,” she added.

Over 160 people were killed and nearly 1,500 people, policemen included, were injured in the coup attempt that began on Friday night.
By Saturday morning, the military was beaten back by "People's Power" and 2,839 officers and soldiers were detained, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said.

The World Schools Championships started in Trabzon, a city on Turkey's Black Sea coast, on July 11 and are scheduled to end on July 18.

Meanwhile, a notice on the International School Sport Federation (ISF) website stated that the organisers have decided to keep the participants and officials with games village.

“In light of the events currently ongoing in Turkey, the Organising Committee and the ISF have decided to keep all delegations in the Olympic Village until further notice,” the notice stated.

“We will keep you informed,” it added.