Several gunshots were heard on Tuesday outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, located in the European district of Beşiktaş, following an intense shooting in the business district of Levent when several individuals carrying automatic rifles opened fire. According to the latest reports, one of the terrorists was killed and two others were seriously injured in the exchange of fire, in which two police officers guarding the building were also wounded.
The incident took place at around 12.30 pm local time (11.30 am CET) in a busy area of Levent. According to the latest available information, three suspects carrying rucksacks and allegedly linked to the terrorist group ISIS approached the building housing the Israeli consulate and opened fire on the police officers at the scene. Turkish security forces responded immediately, leading to a shootout in Levent that lasted for around ten minutes. Turkish news channel NTV reported that the suspects arrived in the area wearing camouflage clothing.
Several people who found themselves caught in the crossfire tried to protect themselves by taking cover behind their vehicles. Numerous police reinforcements were quickly deployed to the area and several ambulances arrived. It has been reported that the building targeted in the terrorist attack had been closed and was inactive, and was empty at the time of the attack. Following the shooting, in which one of the terrorists was killed, the injured were taken to various hospitals in the city.
Turkey’s Justice Minister, Akın Gürlek, announced via social media that the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has immediately opened an investigation into the armed attack. “As part of the investigation, a deputy chief prosecutor and two prosecutors have been assigned; our prosecutors went straight to the scene and began their inquiries. To clarify all aspects of the incident, the work is being carried out meticulously and thoroughly under the coordination of our prosecutors and in conjunction with the relevant police units,” he stated.
The terrorists arrived in Istanbul from İzmit in two vehicles
Whilst investigation teams continue to work at the scene, Turkish security forces have raised security measures in the area to the highest alert level. According to NTV and other sources, the consulate had been closed for two and a half years, although a permanent police presence was maintained to protect the building; security measures had also been stepped up in the wake of the war in Gaza in anticipation of possible attacks.
For his part, the Minister of the Interior, Mustafa Çiftçi, reported that the terrorists involved in the shooting outside the Israeli consulate have already been identified. Çiftçi explained that the attackers had travelled to Istanbul from the Turkish city of İzmit (Kocaeli) in two vehicles, adding that “it has been established that one of the identified individuals has links to an organisation that exploits religious fanaticism (a possible reference to ISIS); and that another of the two terrorists, who are brothers, has a history of drug-related offences.”
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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