TURKEY-ATTACK/ISTANBUL SHOOTING Two detained after Istanbul palace attack - governor's office

Record ID: 143426

  • Title: TURKEY-ATTACK/ISTANBUL SHOOTING Two detained after Istanbul palace attack - governor's office
  • Date: 19th August 2015
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (AUGUST 19, 2015) (REUTERS) POLICE CARRYING MACHINE GUN VARIOUS OF POLICE IN PLAIN CLOTHES STANDING NEAR DOLMABAHCE PALACE VARIOUS OF POLICE VEHICLES AT SCENE VARIOUS OF CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION TRUCK POLICEMEN AT SCENE SPECIAL FORCES IN BLACK HELMETS AT SCENE CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATORS SEARCHING FOR EVIDENCE POLICE WITH GUN VARIOUS OF SCENE
  • Embargoed: 3rd September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVADGAAOG4IVR3WBX2VEWER6VSCK
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Two assailants who staged a hand grenade and gun attack on police at the entrance to Istanbul's Dolmabahce palace were detained with their weapons on Wednesday (August 19), the Istanbul governor's office said.
    It said the attackers were from a "terrorist group", without specifying which group, adding they were believed to have been involved in an armed attack on the offices of the ruling AK Party on August 8.
    The palace is popular with tourists and home to the prime minister's Istanbul offices.
    Ambulances were sent to the area around the building and roads were sealed off by police, but there were no reports of casualties. Dogan news agency said the attackers had targeted police officers stationed at the entrance to the palace.
    Prime Minister Ahmet Davutolgu was in the capital Ankara as reports of the attack emerged and did not interrupt a speech being broadcast on live television.
    Turkey has been in a heightened state of alert since launching a "synchronised war on terror" last month, which included air strikes against Islamic State fighters in Syria and Kurdish militants in northern Iraq.
    A fighter proclaiming allegiance to Islamic State appeared in a video this week urging Turks to rebel against "infidel" President Tayyip Erdogan and help conquer Istanbul, highlighting the threat to the NATO member state.
    Turkey also faces a threat from far-leftist militants.
    The leftist Revolutionary People's Liberation Army-Front (DHKP-C) claimed responsibility earlier this month for an attack on the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, in which two women shot at the building. One of the attackers was hurt in an exchange of fire but there were no other casualties.
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