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One person was killed and four were injured in a shooting incident near the Israeli consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday, authorities have said.
A gunfight erupted outside a building housing the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday, according to Turkey’s Haberturk broadcaster. Reuters video showed a police officer pulling out a gun and taking cover as gunshots resounded. One person was seen covered in blood.
Authorities said that three attackers were neutralised at the shooting incident.
One attacker was killed and two were injured at the scene, Istanbul governor Davut Gul said, while two policemen were lightly wounded. Initial reports said three were killed in the shooting incident.
(Reuters)
Attackers were carrying rifles and guns to carry out an attack at the consulate, Mr Gul said. The area surrounding the building was quickly sealed off.
He added that police were working to identify the attackers. Interior minister Mustafa Çiftçi said that the attackers, who he called “terrorists”, had been identified. Two of the three assailants are believed to be brothers, he said.
Mr Çiftçi added one of the attackers was linked to a group that “exploits religion”.
“The identities of the terrorists have been identified. It has been determined that the individuals, who arrived in Istanbul by a rental vehicle from Izmit, include one with ties to an organization that exploits religion; and it has also been established that one of the two terrorists, who are brothers, has a drug record.”
Istanbul’s chief public prosecutor’s office immediately opened an investigation into the incident, Turkey’s justice minister Akın Gürlek said in a statement shortly after the incident.
(Reuters)
“Upon the reports of gunfire sounds in the vicinity of the Israeli Consulate located in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has immediately initiated an investigation,” the statement read on X.
Three prosecutors have been assigned to investigate the incident, he added.
“Within the scope of the investigation, one deputy chief public prosecutor and two public prosecutors have been assigned; our public prosecutors have promptly arrived at the scene and begun examinations.
He continued: “Under the coordination of our Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, in collaboration with relevant law enforcement units, the work is ongoing for the purpose of fully elucidating the incident, and the investigation is being conducted meticulously and in a multifaceted manner.”
No Israeli diplomats were stationed in Turkey at that time, either at the consulate in Istanbul or the embassy in Ankara. It’s been almost three years since diplomatic personnel had staffed the consulate, the governor said.
The consulate occupies one or two floors inside the high-rise building, according to Haberturk.
The Israeli foreign ministry said it was aware of reports of gunfire near the consulate in Istanbul.
