Attempted stabbing at Israeli embassy in Turkey; assailant shot

Retired policeman shoots knife-wielding suspect attempting to attack security guard outside embassy in Ankara.

By HERB KEINON, JPOST.COM STAFF, REUTERS
Updated: SEPTEMBER 21, 2016 17:35
Israeli embassy attacker in Turkey sitting on the ground after being shot
A man armed with a knife approached Israel's embassy in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Wednesday, and was shot in the leg after trying to attack a local police officer.
According to the Foreign Ministry, none of the Israelis at the embassy were involved or hurt in the incident.
"The staff is safe. The attacker was wounded before he reached the embassy," a ministry spokesman said in a text message.
A security guard at the embassy, who witnessed the attack on the police officer, shot toward the ground, and then a retired policeman who happened to pass by the scene – with a license to carry a gun -- shot the attacker in the leg.

Turkish police at the scene told Reuters the assailant shouted "Allahu Akbar" outside before he was shot in the leg. Police were examining his bag but had so far not exploded it, a Reuters cameraman at the scene said. The area outside the embassy had been cordoned off.

Broadcaster CNN Turk said the attacker was not mentally stable. Initial inquiries indicated that the 41-year-old from the central city of Konya had no links to an organized group, officials said.
It was not immediately clear if there was a second would-be assailant, but Turkish media reports had initially suggested that there had been two attackers.
Riot police stand guard near the of Israeli Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, September 21, 2016 (Reuters)
Riot police stand guard near the of Israeli Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, September 21, 2016 (Reuters)
Turkish media earlier reported that the man had been killed, but then later said he was "neutralized and injured".
Israel and Turkey recently reconciled after a six-year rift in ties that were ruptured over the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident.

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Turkey faces multiple security threats, including from Islamic State militants, who have been blamed for bombings in Istanbul and elsewhere, and from Kurdish militants, following the resumption of a three-decade insurgency in the mainly Kurdish southeast last year.


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