London, Nov 22: Britain has no plans to close its embassies around the world following a deadly bomb blast this week at its consulate in Turkey's largest city Istanbul, the foreign office said. The Times newspaper reported today that a government review was considering whether to close between 10 and 50 diplomatic missions sharing facilities with other countries, and moving vulnerable embassies away from the centre of capital cities.
A foreign office spokeswoman confirmed a review was underway but was not in response to the attack in Turkey and said no closures were planned at this stage.
"We don't have any plans to close any embassies," she said.
"There was already a review going on, but it was not specifically in response to Istanbul. Security issues are under constant review. But there are no plans to close embassies as a response to Istanbul." Twenty-seven people were killed and more than 450 injured in the consulate attack on Thursday and a near-simultaneous blast at the Istanbul headquarters of London-based banking giant HSBC. Bureau Report