One attacker died and two others sustained wounds in an extended gun battle with police outside the tower building housing the Israeli consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday. Footage showed the backpack-wearing attackers firing with automatic rifles and handguns. Police officers returned fire and sought cover while maneuvering among parked white police buses near a checkpoint. One body lay on the street.
Shots rang out for at least 10 minutes among the glass towers in Turkey’s main financial district, Reuters witnesses reported. One person was seen covered in blood. No Israeli staff were at the consulate, which occupies a floor in one of the towers, at the time of the Israeli consulate Istanbul attack. Turkish and Israeli authorities confirmed this detail.
Authorities Investigate Motive Behind Israeli Consulate Istanbul Attack
The three attackers had links to an organization that “exploits religion,” Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said. He did not give any name for the group. Two of the attackers were brothers, and they had traveled in a rented car from the city of Izmit, he added. Turkish authorities did not explicitly state what motivated the attackers.
However, Tom Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, said on X that it was an attack on the Israeli consulate and he condemned it. President Tayyip Erdogan called it a “heinous terrorist attack” but said it would not dent Turkey’s trust and security. Israel’s foreign ministry said it appreciated Turkish security forces’ “swift action in thwarting this attack.”
Two police officers also sustained light wounds, Istanbul Governor Davut Gul told reporters at the scene. The midday incident occurred next to a major motorway as thousands of nearby workers were breaking for lunch. Emergency services rushed to the location within minutes of the first shots.
Diplomatic Chill Persists as Israeli Consulate Istanbul Attack Occurs
Israeli diplomats had left Turkey shortly after the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza began in late 2023. That conflict prompted large pro-Palestinian protests outside the consulate and across the country. It also caused a deep chill in Turkish-Israeli diplomatic ties. Turkey, a fierce critic of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran, had recalled its ambassador from Israel in November 2023. Diplomatic relations have remained effectively frozen since then.
At the same time that year, Israeli diplomats left Turkey due to security concerns, including the protests. Since then, heavily armed police and armoured vehicles have been stationed in a broad area surrounding the consulate. These measures clearly did not prevent the Israeli consulate Istanbul attack, though they may have limited its severity.
Militant violence has mostly subsided in Turkey in recent years. The country experienced a violent spate from 2015 to 2016 when Islamic, Kurdish, and leftist militants carried out attacks amid the spillover from the Syrian civil war. The latest major incident before Tuesday occurred late last year. Three Turkish police officers and six Islamic State militants were killed in a gunfight in the town of Yalova in northwest Turkey. That incident happened amid raids on militant cells believed to be planning Christmas and New Year attacks.
The Israeli consulate Istanbul attack represents a significant escalation. Security forces have cordoned off the area around the financial district. Investigators are examining the attackers’ backgrounds and possible connections to broader networks. Turkish authorities have not announced any arrests beyond the wounded attackers now in custody. The consulate building itself sustained no major damage, as the gunfight occurred primarily outside. Nevertheless, the attack raises fresh questions about diplomatic security in one of the region’s largest cities.
