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Massive Power Outage Paralyzes Turkey

Posted by Soulskill on from the taken-for-granted-until-it's-gone dept.

wiredmikey writes: A massive power outage caused chaos and shut down public transport across Turkey on Tuesday, with the government refusing to rule out that the electricity system had been the victim of an attack. The nationwide power cut, the worst in 15 years, began shortly after 10:30 am (0730 GMT) in Istanbul, the state-run Anatolia news agency quoted the Turkey Electricity Transmission Company (TEIAS) as saying. Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said the authorities were investigating whether the power outage was due to a technical failure or cyber-attack. "It is too early to say now if it is because of a technical reason, a manipulation, a faultplay, an operational mistake, or a cyber (attack). We are looking into it... We cannot say they are excluded possibilities."

57 comments

  1. The Achilles heel of mecha-turkeys by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe luddism has a point?

  2. Old news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That happened 12+ hours ago.

    1. Re:Old news by khr · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yeah, but they didn't have the power to get the word out sooner.

    2. Re:Old news by itzly · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Big sign of incompetence if they don't even know where to look for the problem after 12 hours.

    3. Re:Old news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They apparently didn't have the power to check space weather either.

      http://services.swpc.noaa.gov/...

      "Y"-connected three-phase transformers? Watch the current in that ground leg, and don't use current transformers to do it. Those don't have the near-DC response needed.

  3. Gobble gobble?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Great... Now how will we have Thanksgiving???

  4. Just blame the fat guy in 7G by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just blame the fat guy in 7G Smithers what is his name?

  5. CME I wonder? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    CME I wonder?

  6. I knew it! by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    It's those pesky Canadian drones. They should regulate those better.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  7. Occams Razor: Bad Infrastructure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    There was never in the history of mankind a power outage because of a cyber attack. So why this propaganda spin of a possible cyber attack?
    Most likely it was because of a grid on its limits, combined with a minor/medium failure in a transmission line/power station.

    1. Re:Occams Razor: Bad Infrastructure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cyber attacks are much cooler than the alternative, that it's just conventional corruption and incompetence.

      The world is calling out for a super-villain to make all the wretchedness we suffer meaningful and significant.

      Really, would you rather lose your home to foreclosure, or to Lex Luthor's SUPER-DEATH LASER?

    2. Re:Occams Razor: Bad Infrastructure by Luckyo · · Score: 2

      Which in turn is even cooler than what typically happens in reality - underinvestment in basic infrastructure such as power grid.

    3. Re:Occams Razor: Bad Infrastructure by alvinrod · · Score: 2

      So why this propaganda spin of a possible cyber attack?

      What leader wants to admit that the problem is crummy infrastructure? It's basically admitting that they're bad at their job or too incompetent to keep things maintained properly.

      Blame it on something that can't really be proven definitively and it takes the heat off.

    4. Re:Occams Razor: Bad Infrastructure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Blame it on something that can't really be proven definitively and it takes the heat off.

      Are you talking about WMDs again?

    5. Re:Occams Razor: Bad Infrastructure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Crumby infrastructure gets the politician who misspent the fund into trouble. Cyber attacks allow him to pass more power-grabbing, big brother surveillance bills under the banner of "think of the children! Help! Terrorists!". When the options are being fired, and more money and power, are you really surprised at the spin?

    6. Re:Occams Razor: Bad Infrastructure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As an insurance agency, which would you rather insure, property damage or cyber attack?

    7. Re:Occams Razor: Bad Infrastructure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      but by calling it hacking we can sue / fine the hacker the cost of rebuilding the grid.

    8. Re:Occams Razor: Bad Infrastructure by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

      A smart leader does. It was brought about by chronic underfunding in the infrastructure by the previous governments even though we told them that this would happen while we were in opposition.

    9. Re: Occams Razor: Bad Infrastructure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Trick question! Cyber attacks are probably "war" and covered in standard insurance policies.

    10. Re:Occams Razor: Bad Infrastructure by Gavagai80 · · Score: 1

      Considering Erdoan has been in power for 12 years, blaming it on previous governments would be rather laughable.

      --
      This space intentionally left blank
    11. Re:Occams Razor: Bad Infrastructure by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

      In Canada Harper has been in power for over 6 six and he still does it, especially when it comes to the Defence Department and the environment.

    12. Re:Occams Razor: Bad Infrastructure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe not a cyber attack, but if you do apply Occam's Razor and know your history you'll know that sabotages on the power grid also happen, and can have devastating results on poorly-setup power transmission systems. Also there's a growing radical opposition against the government in Turkey, including the Kurds who know how to call the shots.

      Of course it could only be a technical failure... but just look at the timing.

  8. Paralyzesd Turkey? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Gobble Gobble!

  9. Turkey... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone else read "turkey" as in the bird?

    No?

    All right.

    1. Re:Turkey... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does it have another meaning?

  10. How long until Erdogan... by swb · · Score: 2

    ...blames his opponents, the officer corps, or some expatriate mullah hiding in America for this?

    Or pays his cronies billions to "fix" the grid?

    1. Re:How long until Erdogan... by Mashiki · · Score: 0

      I'm sure he'll blame America for it, right after he starts screaming it's a zionist conspiracy and the Jews did it.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
  11. I wonder what this means... by bobbied · · Score: 1

    The Turks are fully capable of running a power grid that's reliable so something tells me that there is a lot more to this story than we are being told. It's not like Turkey is the crown jewel of stability and democracy of the middle east or anything. Somebody did this on purpose and it is NOT easy to take down a power grid in a country. You can do small parts of a country, a few towns, maybe a city pretty easily, but a whole country? That's something that will take either some incredible luck or a significant amount of skill and knowledge to do.

    Think about it. Who would want to disrupt things that are going on in Turkey? Who has the ability to do something like this? I think if you match the two lists up there are only a few names left.

    Mark my words, there is something big afoot...

    --
    "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    1. Re:I wonder what this means... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's easy, Turkey has been clamping down on jihadis moving through their country to join the conflict in and around Syria. Knock out the power grid for any significant length of time, and it would help people either enter or leave the country (or some of both), assuming they aren't using mass transit.

    2. Re:I wonder what this means... by Tablizer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      there is something big afoot

      Come on, it's premature to blame it on Sasquatch

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    3. Re:I wonder what this means... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Turkey -- a Sunni Muslim country -- has always had a strained relationship with many of the other Middle East countries (many of which are Shiite Muslim). Turkey has also been buying millions of dollars worth of oil from ISIS each day -- a way to get cheap oil, and a way to support a group that is also Sunni Muslim.

      So I have to wonder if another nation has done this to punish Turkey?

    4. Re:I wonder what this means... by rahvin112 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Turkey is no longer what you sarcastically try to claim it is. Edrogan is actively working to turn that country back into the Ottoman shithole it was by eroding the very democracy and secular principles that's made it strong. He's destroyed the independent judiciary. He's about 80% destroyed local governments and NGOs and he's begun the press and free association clamp down. Free speech has also been targeted, directly and indirectly and he's putting religion back into the public school with state control and corruption is rampant.

      By the time he's dead Turkey is going to be the same Islamic shithole the rest of the middle east is. Free thinking and acting people don't show proper "respect" to the theology and that can't be allowed. All over the middle east secular leaders and advocates are being murdered (often without consequences for the murderer) publicly and often very violently. Once the people that favor a secular government are scared into silence the Imams can make a directly play for power and take their seat at the head of society, as the believe they are entitled. Turkey is rapidly moving in this direction and it won't be long before people speaking out for secular principles are jailed or murdered for insulting either the leadership or Islam. It's already illegal to "insult" Erdogan.

    5. Re:I wonder what this means... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Umm

      It isn't super-difficult for some motivated individuals to get hold of explosives in Turkey ATM right?

      And there are multiple groups of some pretty motivated individuals in Turkey right?

      So how hard would it be to get some explosives, and drive to multiple electricity distribution towers around the country and simultaneously (ie coordinated by mobile phone) blow them up?

      I think it is amazing that countries on the border of conflicts, (and involved in some of them themselves like Turkey is with the Kurds) don't see this kind of disruption more often.

    6. Re:I wonder what this means... by gtall · · Score: 2

      The King of Jordan once said of Erdogan (I paraphrase) "democracy is like a bus to Erdogan, once he reaches his destination, he's going to get off." That pretty much sums up what a whore Erdogan is deep, down in his black little heart.

    7. Re:I wonder what this means... by dave420 · · Score: 1

      Then explain the massive power outages in the US a few years back :)

    8. Re:I wonder what this means... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, Jordan a paragon of democracy.

    9. Re:I wonder what this means... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      +1. I used to work in academia in Turkey. After a particularly scary opening ceremony, I knew it was time to leave. I'm a lucky one--I was able to jump out of the frog pot. Many others simply endure the constantly rising temperature, either oblivious to the changes or lacking the ability or energy to change.

    10. Re:I wonder what this means... by u38cg · · Score: 1

      Yeah, this could never happen in an advanced country.

      --
      [FUCK BETA]
    11. Re:I wonder what this means... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's true... Erdogan is the worst thing to have happened to this country in a long, long while, and in NO way "terrorism" can be used as a blind spot to cover his government's politics, as he also has been found to support ISIS in the past.

      I bet the CIA helped him in rigging the elections.

  12. Contrary to personal experience by bughunter · · Score: 1

    I've found that you generally need massive amounts of power to paralyze a turkey.

    At least a few hundred Watts.

    More if you want the center at an edible 160F by dinnertime.

    --
    I can see the fnords!
    1. Re:Contrary to personal experience by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      You'll do better to cut it up and cook the breasts for less time than the legs.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    2. Re:Contrary to personal experience by jader3rd · · Score: 1

      You'll do better to cut it up and cook the breasts for less time than the legs.

      That's not nearly as photogenic though.

    3. Re:Contrary to personal experience by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's what she said!

    4. Re:Contrary to personal experience by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      No. She said "What the hell are you planning to do with that knife?"

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
  13. When something like this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When something like this happens in a non-US-friendly country, the US govt./corporate-backed media is fast to blame the government of that country.
    When this happens in a western-friendly country, it's just an accident.
    At least non-US-friendly countries mostly tell the truth about the US. Western media and western powers are hypocrites and manipulators.

    1. Re:When something like this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Turkey *IS* a US (and UK) friendly country.

      Heck, that's the only reason Turkey's illegal occupation of northern Cyprus has been allowed to drag-on for 40+ years. Had it been any other country, Cyprus would have been freed decades ago.

    2. Re:When something like this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And that's what I'm saying... It's rather obvious, judging by the political climate in Turkey, that Erdogan is responsible for this, directly or indirectly.

  14. Coincidence? by forty-2 · · Score: 2

    This is on the heels of a stand-off that lead to the death of the Prosecutor who didn't punish cops that killed a 15 year old protestor a year ago. One can't help but wonder if this "power outage" was a ham-fisted attempt at controlling the spread of news and stifling the people's ability to communicate and organize.

    http://www.reuters.com/article...

    --
    never drink kool-aid from a big vat
    1. Re: Coincidence? by jblues · · Score: 1

      It's a common approach. There's always power outages here in the Philippines around election time.

      --
      If it acquires resources on instantiation like a duck, then its a shared_ptr<Duck>
  15. This just in by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

    Massive Power Outage Paralyzes Turkey

    Chicken unaffected.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    1. Re:This just in by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was the cranberries that did it. Either the cranberries or the butler. I'm voting for the cranberries though.

  16. Don't Worry ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It's just the NSA doing a firmware "upgrade" on some of their routers :D

    Things should be back to normal soon.

  17. I Know! by JimSadler · · Score: 1

    Comcast must be in charge of power stations in Turkey.

  18. Not EMP: No Worry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Apparently not an EMP.

    Therefore the populous should not engage in wanton acts of killing and Fucking indiscriminately as those would not be useful things at this time.

    Ha ha

  19. I am not surpriced by Bender+Unit+22 · · Score: 1

    I has been about 6-7 years since I was in Turkey. The hotel I was staying at was a regular 3 star hotel. They had a backup generator in the back alley which they seemed to share with the neighbor hotel.
    The power would go out once or twice every day, mostly only for half an hour. Sometimes in the middle of the night by noise from the generator and my AC starting again.
    When I arrived late at night at the hotel, I noticed that the power distribution boxes were quite hot when you was leaning against them. Also some of the local transformer stations were out in the air directly by the sidewalk, shielded only by a minimal amount of chain link fence.
    It seemed like they had some issues with sizing the infrastructure.
    But I had a pleasent stay there so no complaints from me.

  20. Misread title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For a second there I kept thinking why in the world a power outage could harm a turkey.. :/

  21. Sad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I didn't read the article and I'm not sure how it happened but I hope they at least try and rehabilitate the little guy. Unfortunately, a turkeys days are probably numbered in this situation. If there is nothing that can be done, at least donate him to a needy(hungry) family?