A part of Istanbul’s Sultanahmet district, near the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia museum, was closed after a suicide bombing at a police station on Tuesday. Public transport around the tourist area of Sultanahmet Square was briefly shut down following the attack.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office have advised tourists in the area to “follow the advice of the local authorities”.

The attack resulted in the death of a Turkish police officer while another was injured, officials report.

The identity and nationality of the female suicide bomber is currently unknown but she was said to have told officers in English that she had lost her wallet before setting of the bomb , according to Vasip Sahin, the governor of Istanbul.

The latest attack is the second on police in the last week. A man was arrested last Thursday after throwing grenades and firing a weapon at officers near the Turkish prime minister’s offices near the Dolmabahçe Palace, Istanbul.

Last October at least 35 people died following violent protests that were held across Turkey over the country’s perceived inaction in the fight against jihadists on the Syrian border, with most of the deaths having taken place in the south eastern provinces, the Foreign Office reported.

Thousands of pro-Kurdish demonstrators clashed with police across the country last October. In Istanbul's Gazi neighbourhood, police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse a protest by several hundred Kurds, while elsewhere in Istanbul, one person was seriously injured after being shot in the head from close range, the AFP reported.

Travellers to the country should be vigilant and avoid areas where demonstrations are said to take place regularly - particularly in Istanbul around Taksim Square and in Kadikoy, the Kizilay district of central Ankara and around the waterfront area in central Izmir, the Foreign Office warns.

For more travel advice on Turkey, see the gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/turkey.