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| Turkish police shoot attackers outside Istanbul headquarters | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Turkish police shot two attackers outside Istanbul’s police headquarters on Wednesday, killing one of them and leaving two officers injured in an exchange of fire, local media reported. | Turkish police shot two attackers outside Istanbul’s police headquarters on Wednesday, killing one of them and leaving two officers injured in an exchange of fire, local media reported. |
| Footage on the website of the Dogan news agency showed one person lying on the ground as police vehicles sealed off the street in the Aksaray neighbourhood of central Istanbul. | Footage on the website of the Dogan news agency showed one person lying on the ground as police vehicles sealed off the street in the Aksaray neighbourhood of central Istanbul. |
| An official at the police headquarters, reached by Reuters, confirmed that there had been an attack and that gunfire was heard outside the building but declined to comment on any casualties, saying a statement would be made later. | An official at the police headquarters, reached by Reuters, confirmed that there had been an attack and that gunfire was heard outside the building but declined to comment on any casualties, saying a statement would be made later. |
| The attack comes a day after two leftist militants took an Istanbul prosecutor hostage in his office. All three died late on Tuesday after police special forces stormed the building in an effort to release him. | The attack comes a day after two leftist militants took an Istanbul prosecutor hostage in his office. All three died late on Tuesday after police special forces stormed the building in an effort to release him. |
| Related: Turkish prosecutor taken hostage dies after police shootout kills two leftist militants | Related: Turkish prosecutor taken hostage dies after police shootout kills two leftist militants |
| Separately, police detained a gunman on Wednesday who entered a suburban Istanbul office of the ruling AK party and hung from its window a Turkish flag with the emblem of a sword added to it. | Separately, police detained a gunman on Wednesday who entered a suburban Istanbul office of the ruling AK party and hung from its window a Turkish flag with the emblem of a sword added to it. |
| Turkey’s justice minister said the two militants who seized the prosecutor on Tuesday had “held a gun to the nation” and vowed to find the “dark forces” behind them. | Turkey’s justice minister said the two militants who seized the prosecutor on Tuesday had “held a gun to the nation” and vowed to find the “dark forces” behind them. |
| Two members of the extreme leftist Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) took prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz, 46, hostage in his Istanbul office. | Two members of the extreme leftist Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) took prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz, 46, hostage in his Istanbul office. |
| Kiraz had been leading an investigation into the death last March of Berkin Elvan, 15, who died nine months after falling into a coma after being hit by a police teargas canister during anti-government protests in 2013. | Kiraz had been leading an investigation into the death last March of Berkin Elvan, 15, who died nine months after falling into a coma after being hit by a police teargas canister during anti-government protests in 2013. |
| The hostage-taking was in revenge for his death, the DHKP-C said on its website. “We don’t see this as an attack on our deceased prosecutor, but on the whole justice system. It is a gun directed at our nation,” Justice Minister Kenan Ipek said at a ceremony attended by hundreds of lawyers and judges. | The hostage-taking was in revenge for his death, the DHKP-C said on its website. “We don’t see this as an attack on our deceased prosecutor, but on the whole justice system. It is a gun directed at our nation,” Justice Minister Kenan Ipek said at a ceremony attended by hundreds of lawyers and judges. |
| “Our state is powerful enough to track down those behind these lowlifes ... The fact these assassins are dead shouldn’t put those nefarious and dark forces at ease,” he said, as Kiraz’s coffin stood on display in the courthouse foyer. | “Our state is powerful enough to track down those behind these lowlifes ... The fact these assassins are dead shouldn’t put those nefarious and dark forces at ease,” he said, as Kiraz’s coffin stood on display in the courthouse foyer. |
| One mourner, a 49-year-old lawyer who gave his name as Serpil, said the prosecutor should have had better security. “Perhaps the police could have negotiated with them longer,” he added. | One mourner, a 49-year-old lawyer who gave his name as Serpil, said the prosecutor should have had better security. “Perhaps the police could have negotiated with them longer,” he added. |
| DHKP-C sympathisers clashed with police in two Istanbul neighbourhoods overnight, local media reported. Counter-terrorism police have raided homes of suspected members and detained more than two dozen people in three provincial cities. | DHKP-C sympathisers clashed with police in two Istanbul neighbourhoods overnight, local media reported. Counter-terrorism police have raided homes of suspected members and detained more than two dozen people in three provincial cities. |
| Riot police detained 36 students at Istanbul University after posters referring to one of the dead hostage takers was displayed in the law faculty, a leftist union said on its website. | Riot police detained 36 students at Istanbul University after posters referring to one of the dead hostage takers was displayed in the law faculty, a leftist union said on its website. |
| “We are aware that we face an axis of evil and there is an attempt to instigate an atmosphere of chaos ahead of the (June general) election,” the prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, told reporters in Istanbul. | “We are aware that we face an axis of evil and there is an attempt to instigate an atmosphere of chaos ahead of the (June general) election,” the prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, told reporters in Istanbul. |
| The deputy prime minister, Emrullah Isler, accused the hostage-takers on Twitter of links to groups that incited violence during the 2013 unrest in which Elvan was injured. | The deputy prime minister, Emrullah Isler, accused the hostage-takers on Twitter of links to groups that incited violence during the 2013 unrest in which Elvan was injured. |
| Newspapers last month reported that prosecutor Kiraz had identified three police officers involved in Elvan’s death and was close to finishing his investigation. | Newspapers last month reported that prosecutor Kiraz had identified three police officers involved in Elvan’s death and was close to finishing his investigation. |
| The DHKP-C is a Marxist group that has been behind a series of assassinations and suicide bombings, including fatal attacks on the US Embassy. Turkish police have also been a frequent target. | The DHKP-C is a Marxist group that has been behind a series of assassinations and suicide bombings, including fatal attacks on the US Embassy. Turkish police have also been a frequent target. |
| The US, EU and Turkey list it as a terrorist organisation. | The US, EU and Turkey list it as a terrorist organisation. |