News Desk

INSTANBUL: A gunman was killed and two others wounded in a shootout on Tuesday with police outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, Turkish officials said, adding that two officers were lightly wounded.

Governor Davut Gul confirmed the killing of one of the assailants during the attack that took place around 12:15pm (0915 GMT).

It was not immediately clear if the intended target was the Israeli consulate. No Israeli diplomats “are currently on Turkish soil”, a source familiar with the matter told AFP.

Israeli diplomatic missions had been evacuated “not only in Turkiye but throughout the region for security reasons” shortly after the October 7, 2023, attacks by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Israeli soil, according to the same source.

Israel said it would not be cowed down while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the “treacherous attack” and vowed to fight “all kinds of terrorism”.

“We appreciate the Turkish security forces’ swift action in thwarting this attack. Israeli missions around the world have been subjected to countless threats and terrorist attacks. Terror will not deter us,” the Israeli foreign ministry posted on X.

Turkiye’s Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said the assailants came in a rented vehicle from Izmit, a city about 86 kilometres (50 miles) away and that one of them was linked to an “organisation that exploits the region”.

The ministry later clarified that the dead gunman “had connections with a terrorist group” and said two policemen were “slightly injured”.

The remaining two assailants were brothers and one has a drug record, it added.

Footage showed one attacker armed with an automatic rifle, dressed in beige cargo pants and black top and carrying a backpack.