ANKARA, Turkey, April 6 (UPI) -- The Turkish government said Monday the top executive at the Turkish Electricity Transmission Co. resigned after last week's massive near-national blackout.
Air traffic was diverted around Turkey last week after nearly the entire country, including the largest city, Istanbul, and the capital city, Ankara, lost power. Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said the near nationwide blackout was caused by malfunctions on transmission lines operated by the Turkish company, known by its Turkish acronym TEIAS, the only power provider in the country.
"The General Director of TEIAS, Kemal Yildir, who sees himself as responsible, has resigned from his post," the minister said Monday.
The minister said several other top officials were suspended, adding "overconfidence" in the durability of the power system was one of the factors behind the blackout.
Opposition leaders last week leaned on ruling party officials to address the outage, though Yildiz said the incident was exceptionally rare.
The blackout lasted less than 24 hours.
