The health ministry’s decontamination teams have cleared the Canadian, Belgian and German consulates after suspicious yellow powder letters were delivered to various foreign missions in Istanbul in the morning, the Istanbul Governorate announced Friday evening.
At the moment, the decontamination teams were still working at the French consulate and clearance was expected there as well in the coming hours, officials told Anadolu Agency.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed that the U.S. consulate had also received a package with a "suspicious powder."
She told reporters that American and Turkish officials were investigating the matter.
The consulate is "otherwise operating normally," she said.
The decontamination efforts by the Turkish health ministry teams included the consulate premises and personnel working there.
Around ten staff members from the Canadian consulate, four from the Belgian consulate and two others from the German consulate were also taken to a hospital on suspicion of getting in touch with the unknown yellow substance, the Turkish Health Ministry said.
"The condition of the staff is good, but they will be kept under strict medical observation until a final result of the powder sample is released," the ministry said.
The Turkish authorities have taken samples of the yellow substance and sent them to the Hifzissihha Laboratory in Ankara for a complete examination.
The results from the laboratory are scheduled to be released on October 27.
Turkish chemical, radiological and nuclear teams were dispatched Friday morning when authorities received reports about suspicious packages being delivered to the consulates.
An investigation has been launched into the incident, which is still ongoing, officials added.