Three killed as Israeli consulate attacked in Turkish city of Istanbul

At least three people have been killed and two police officers injured in an exchange of gunfire near the Israeli consulate building in the Turkish port city of Istanbul.

Turkish media, citing security sources, reported that all three assailants were killed by police outside the consulate in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district on Tuesday.

“Three people arrived in a car, tried to open fire, and security forces fired back,” an eyewitness was quoted as saying. Video footage showed a police officer drawing his weapon and taking cover as gunshots rang out, with one person seen covered in blood.

Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci stated that the attackers have been identified. He confirmed they traveled from Izmit, a city approximately 100 km east of Istanbul, in a rented car.

No Israeli diplomats are currently working in the consulate building in Istanbul, nor at the Israeli embassy in the Turkish capital, Ankara.

In recent months, Turkey has seen massive demonstrations against Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip and its aggressive expansionist agenda across the region.

These latest developments come amid growing public anger over the ongoing US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran and Lebanon, which has now engulfed the entire West Asia region.

The Turkish government has declared the Israeli regime the aggressor and initiator of this war, viewing the Tel Aviv regime as a primary factor behind regional destabilization.

Senior Turkish officials have strongly opposed the illegitimate and unprovoked US-Israeli attacks on the Iranian people, while urging respect for Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Israel, which has made no secret of its vicious expansionist intentions, has also threatened to attack Turkey and other regional states.

Several senior figures within the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have called on the government to sever all diplomatic ties with the occupied entity.

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