Three gunmen shot at police outside a high rise building that houses the Israeli consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday. The shooting started a gun battle in one of the city’s busiest business areas.
One attacker was killed and the other two were caught with injuries, Istanbul Governor Davut Gul said. Two police officers were slightly hurt.
The shooting happened near Buyukdere Street in the Levent business district, an area full of offices and thousands of workers.
Turkish journalist Tamer Oskay said the three men had tried to get to the consulate on the seventh floor of a plaza building about half an hour before the shooting started.
Security guards and police at the entrance grew suspicious. A fight broke out when the attackers refused to stop.
Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Cifti said the gunmen had come from the city of Izmit about 100 km east of Istanbul in a rented car.
He said one of them was linked to a group that exploits religion but did not name the group. Turkish media said the group could be the Islamic State, whose members have fought with police before in the nearby Marmara region.
The two surviving attackers are brothers known only as Onur C. and Enes C. One of them has a criminal record for drug offences. Both are now being questioned.
The consulate has had no staff for some time. Israel pulled its diplomats out of both its Istanbul consulate and Ankara embassy over security concerns and worsening ties with Turkiye during the war in Gaza.
Both Israel and Turkiye quickly called the incident a terrorist attack. Israel’s foreign ministry said it strongly condemned the attack and praised Turkish security forces for acting fast.
The US ambassador to Turkiye, Tom Barrack, also condemned the violence. He wrote on X that attacks on diplomatic missions are an attack on the international order.
Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said three prosecutors including a deputy chief prosecutor have been put in charge of the investigation. Police blocked off nearby streets and forensic teams were seen going over the scene.
The attack comes at a tense time in the region, as the wider conflict involving Israel, Iran and several neighbouring countries keeps growing.
