Shooting near Israeli consulate in Turkiye declared ‘terror’ attack | News

Three people have been killed and two police officers injured in a gunfire incident ⁠near the building housing the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, according to Turkish media reports.

Three people involved in the gun battle that erupted on Tuesday have been “eliminated” by Turkish police, said Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu. Israel and Turkiye have both declared the incident a “terror” attack.

The Reuters news agency video showed a police officer pulling out a gun and taking cover as gunshots resounded. One person ⁠was seen covered in ⁠blood.

The area where the consulate building is located, meanwhile, is densely populated and houses many businesses, including international ones, with “thousands” of people working nearby, said Koseoglu.

The Israeli consulate is on the seventh floor of one tall building in the area, she added, noting this is in the Yapi Kredi Plaza on Buyukdere Street in Istanbul’s Besiktas district.

“The eyewitness that I spoke to … he was just smoking with his colleague, and three people came in a car, tried to open gunfire, and then the security fired back,” said Koseoglu, reporting from Istanbul.

It was not immediately clear if the intended target was the Israeli consulate.

There are no Israeli diplomats serving in the consulate building in Istanbul, and no Israeli diplomats in the Israeli embassy in the Turkish capital of Ankara, “which means the employees who are inside those diplomatic missions are mostly the locals who are working for the consulate or embassy”, Koseoglu added.

However, Israel and Turkiye both swiftly condemned the incident, branding it “terror” related.

“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,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a post on social media.

Exploiting religion

Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said the attackers – who arrived from Izmit, a city about 100km (62 miles) east of Istanbul, in a rental car – had been identified.

He noted that “one had links to an organisation that exploits religion”. Turkish media speculated that this was a reference to ISIL (ISIS).

The ministry later stated that the gunman who was killed “had connections with a terrorist group”.

Istanbul Governor Davut Gul described the incident as a “provocative act”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan labelled it as a “treacherous attack”.

“We will continue our fight against all kinds of terrorism, and we will not allow … provocations to harm Turkiye’s climate of security,” he said in a televised speech.

“Attacks on diplomatic missions are attacks on the international order – and an assault on the principles that bind nations together,” said Tom Barrack, United States ambassador to Turkiye.

Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said an investigation has been launched into the incident.

Tuesday’s incident is “significant” due to the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran, said Mehmet Celik, the editorial coordinator at the Daily Sabah newspaper, noting that the conflict has embroiled much of the region.

“It’s a very sensitive matter, given the situation in the region and, of course, the rising sentiment against Israel, be it through the Iran war, be it through the Gaza situation, or Lebanon or elsewhere in the region,” Celik told Al Jazeera, speaking from Istanbul.

The attackers’ motive

Meanwhile, the motivation behind the attack could be to “damage Turkiye’s prestige”, which has been seen as a “safe and stable place in the region” amid the war, Celik said.

“When an attack like this happens, the first thing that comes to my mind is … who does this attack benefit? And it is definitely not, of course, Turkiye,” he said.

A second motive for the attackers could be to drag Turkiye into the ongoing regional conflict, and a third motive could be to damage Istanbul’s reputation as a diplomatic mediator city, given that many mediation efforts have taken place there, the journalist added.

Still, Celik argued that Tuesday’s attack should be seen as separate from Turkiye’s past history, as it is currently going through a “terror-free” period, an attempt to “minimise the effect of terrorism within Turkiye as well as in the wider region”, he said, referring to the recent disarmament of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and changes in neighbouring Syria.