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Ahead of Friday's protests, Istanbul's pro-Erdogan governor has ordered the closure of the Galata and Ataturk bridges, both of which cross the Golden Horn estuary to where city hall is located.

A Turkish transport ministry statement said the Galata Seaways roll-on-roll-off vessel was sailing from the Turkish port of Yalova to Sete in France.

In an updated security alert, the U.S. embassy said "possible imminent retaliatory attacks by terrorists" could take place in areas frequented by Westerners, especially the city's Beyoglu, Galata, Taksim, and Istiklal neighbourhoods.

Along the Istiklal Avenue and down the side streets opening to Galata Tower, as well as on the Asian side of the city, in neighborhoods such as Kadikoy, there used to be many secondhand bookstores with neighborhood cats sleeping on the shelves.

On the Galata Bridge, with its permanent fixture of anglers, rods hovering over the silver water of the Golden Horn like so many tiny tower cranes, Eyüp, glimpsing the traffic of Uzbeks, Syrians, Afghans and Africans, said, “It has become a refugee city.”