Electricity transmission company head resigns after massive blackout

The head of the Turkish Electricity Transmission Company (TE?A?) has resigned following the massive electricity blackout which affected nearly the entire country, Energy Minister Taner Y?ld?z said April 6.

Speaking a press conference, Y?ld?z said five main distribution lines became disabled during work on the lines.

"We also evaluate that there was an operational error in addition to a technical breakdown," Y?ld?z said.

A massive power outage affected more than 76 million people in 80 out of 81 Turkish provinces for up to nine hours on March 31.

Some of the responsible personnel have been suspended from their post, while TE?A? head Kemal Y?ld?r has stepped down, Y?ld?z said.

The investigation to detect the exact cause of the breakdown has been completed and all technical details will be shared soon, the minister added.