Gunfire broke out Tuesday near the building housing the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, and Turkish security forces shot three attackers dead, according to local media reports. Two police officers were injured in the incident.
Video footage seen by showed a police officer pulling out a gun and taking cover as shots rang out near the consulate in Istanbul's Besiktas District. Television footage later showed armed police patrolling the area after the shooting.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the incident is under investigation and confirmed the consulate is currently unstaffed. The building has been closed for at least two years, and it remains unclear whether the consulate itself was the target.
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Turkey's justice minister, Akin Gurlek, said he assigned three investigators to the case and that the incident took place outside the Israeli consulate. On X, he said the investigation is being conducted meticulously and in a multifaceted manner. He did not say whether the shooting was being treated as antisemitic or anti-Zionist in nature.
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The area around the consulate is already one of the more heavily guarded spots in the district, with a strong armed police presence normally maintained there. That makes the immediate question less about whether authorities can secure the site and more about what exactly those who opened fire were trying to do.
