TURKEY-POLICE/ATTACK Four wounded in Istanbul amid escalating violence

Record ID: 146340

  • Title: TURKEY-POLICE/ATTACK Four wounded in Istanbul amid escalating violence
  • Date: 25th July 2015
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JULY 25, 2015) (REUTERS) ARMOURED POLICE VEHICLE TO FORENSICS VARIOUS OF FORENSIC OFFICERS WORKING BYSTANDERS BEHIND SECURITY CORDON FORENSIC OFFICER TAKING NOTES NUMBER PLACARDS ON THE GROUND FORENSIC OFFICERS WORKING BULLETS ON THE GROUND CIRCLED WITH CHALK BULLET ON THE GROUND FORENSIC VAN PARKED NEARBY POLICE HELICOPTER FLYING PAST VARIOUS OF POLICEME
  • Embargoed: 9th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAED48WBMNB99G1C0PQFH6YO6NV
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Three policemen and a pedestrian were wounded in Istanbul's Okmeydani district after unidentified armed men opened fire at police officers who were mounting security to thwart illegal protests, Turkey's state run Anadolu Agency reported on Saturday (July 25).
    Police launched an operation to catch the assailants as forensics were sifting evidence at the site.
    A local man said he saw three men running away when he arrived at the scene of the attack.
    "I was drinking tea when I heard the gunfire. I ran here and saw wounded people lying on the ground and I saw three men running to back streets. Afterwards, clashes began. I didn't see the attackers. I saw three wounded," Salih Karatas said.
    The assault was the latest in a series of attacks that began with a suicide bombing blamed on Islamic State in the mainly Kurdish town of Suruc, near the Syria border.
    Many of those killed in the attack were Kurds and it kicked off waves of violence in the largely Kurdish southeast by militants who say Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party have covertly supported Islamic State against Syrian Kurds. Ankara denies the accusation.
    Earlier this week, A Turkish police officer was shot and killed and a second wounded in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir and two police officers were killed in an attack in Ceylanpinar on the Syrian border for which militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) claimed responsibility.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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