Three attackers were killed and two Turkish police officers wounded in a shooting outside the building housing the Israeli consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday, Turkish authorities said. Security personnel returned fire and eliminated all three gunmen at the scene.
The attack occurred at Yapi Kredi Plaza on Buyukdere Street in the Besiktas district, where the Israeli consulate occupies the seventh floor. The plaza is in a densely populated commercial area with thousands of office workers in nearby buildings.
Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said the assailants had arrived in a rental car from Izmit, around 100 kilometres east of Istanbul. He added that one of the attackers had links to a group “exploiting religion” and that two were brothers, one of whom had a previous drug-related record. Istanbul Governor Davut Gul described the incident as a “provocative act,” and Justice Minister Akin Gurlek announced an investigation.
No Israeli diplomats were inside the consulate at the time of the attack. The building is staffed mostly by local employees. No group has publicly claimed responsibility.
The shooting comes amid heightened regional tensions linked to the US–Israeli military campaign against Iran and continuing hostilities in Gaza and Lebanon. Turkey, which hosts a large Palestinian solidarity movement and has criticised Israeli military operations, has seen periodic security incidents at Israeli diplomatic facilities since the start of the regional escalation.
Turkish Airlines, a key carrier serving Colombo and the main alternative transit route to Sri Lanka as Gulf airlines scale back operations, was not affected by the incident.
