Alarm drill leads to panic at Parliament campus

Lawmakers and administrative staff at Turkey’s Parliament experienced a difficult time when they heard a drill alarm on July 11.

An announcement calling on people to evacuate the new Public Relations Building, where lawmakers have offices, was made shortly past noon. Because the announcement gave no explanation other than instructing evacuation, it led people to assume the notice was due to an emergency situation, assuming a bomb threat.

Within only half an hour, they learned the company responsible for maintaining the building’s electricity system, which recently began servicing the building, made the announcement for testing purposes.

Nonetheless, staff working at the building told the Hürriyet Daily News that when they approached police units assigned to protect the unit, they understood the police were not informed of such a drill for the alarm beforehand either.