Three Assailants Neutralized After Gunfire Near Israeli Consulate Area in İstanbul

By Bosphorus News Staff

Turkish authorities said three assailants were neutralized after opening fire near the Yapı Kredi Plaza blocks in İstanbul's Beşiktaş district on April 7, in an incident that wounded two police officers and triggered a terrorism investigation.

According to the Turkish Interior Ministry, the attack targeted riot police officers deployed in the area. The ministry said officers responded immediately and brought the three suspects under control.

In a statement, the ministry said: "Two of our heroic police officers who responded instantly to the attack were lightly wounded, one in the foot and one in the ear, and their lives are not in danger."

The ministry added that the identities of the attackers had been established and that they had arrived in İstanbul in a rental vehicle from İzmit. It said one of the suspects killed at the scene, identified as Yunus E. S., had links to what Turkish authorities described as a "religiously exploitative terrorist organisation."

The same statement said the other two suspects, identified as brothers Onur Ç. and Enes Ç., were captured wounded. "It has been determined that the two other terrorists, Onur Ç. and Enes Ç., who were captured wounded, are brothers, and that Onur Ç. has a narcotics record," the ministry said.

Authorities also said the three suspects had been in "intensive digital communication" before the attack and that the questioning of the wounded suspects was continuing.

Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi echoed those details in a social media statement, saying: "Three people who entered into an armed clash with our police officers on duty in front of the Yapı Kredi Plaza blocks in İstanbul have been neutralized."

He added: "Two of our heroic police officers were lightly wounded in the clash." Çiftçi also said the suspects had been identified and that investigators had determined they had come to İstanbul in a rental car from İzmit.

Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said İstanbul prosecutors opened an investigation immediately after reports of gunfire in the area surrounding the Israeli Consulate.

In his statement, Gürlek said: "An investigation has been launched immediately by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding reports of gunfire in the vicinity of the Israeli Consulate in İstanbul's Beşiktaş district."

He added that one deputy chief prosecutor and two public prosecutors had been assigned to the case, and said prosecutors had gone to the scene without delay to begin the initial examination.

"The investigation is being conducted meticulously and in multiple dimensions in coordination with the relevant law enforcement units under the direction of our chief public prosecutor's office, in order to clarify all aspects of the incident," Gürlek said.

İstanbul Governor Davut Gül, who visited the scene and received briefings from security officials, described the incident as suspicious and politically charged.

"Two of our police officers were lightly wounded as a result of the attack," Gül said. "One of the terrorists was killed and two were neutralized in wounded condition."

He also raised the possibility that the attack was intended to trigger wider repercussions. "This is an act that smells of provocation," he said.

Gül noted that the Israeli Consulate had not been operating at the location for an extended period. "There has been no activity at the consulate for 2.5 years. There is no diplomatic staff living there," he said.

Presidential Communications Director Burhanettin Duran also framed the incident as a broader security threat and praised the police response.

In his statement, Duran said: "The rapid and determined intervention of our security forces prevented a potentially larger threat."

He added: "This treacherous attack will never weaken our belief in and determination toward our goal of a terror-free Türkiye and a terror-free region."

The authorities have not yet publicly provided a fuller operational reconstruction of the incident, and the investigation remains ongoing.