Nearly 200 arrests in Turkey after attack on Israeli consulate

Turkish security forces arrested nearly 200 people in a nationwide sweep one day after a shootout outside Israel's consulate in Istanbul, Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said Wednesday.

Gurlek posted on X that officers had arrested 198 suspects in a simultaneous operation in 34 provinces against "the terrorist organisation Daesh", another name for the Islamic State group.

A gunman was killed and two others wounded in Tuesday's shootout with police outside the consulate, with two officers lightly wounded.

Twelve of those arrested have been placed in pre-trial detention, including the two wounded gunmen, who were hospitalised, according to the justice ministry.

No group has claimed responsibility for Tuesday's shootout.

Turkish media reports said the gunman who was killed was a 32-year-old man linked to Daesh.

The interior ministry said he had ties to a "terrorist organisation", and that the two wounded gunmen were brothers with links to drug trafficking.

Footage of the shootout showed one of the attackers armed with an automatic rifle, dressed in beige cargo pants and carrying a backpack.

Officials said the attackers arrived in a rented vehicle from Izmit, about 86 kilometres (50 miles) from Istanbul.

Two police officers intervened and were wounded.

Witnesses said the shootout lasted at least 10 minutes.

The shootout took place in the Levent business district, situated on the European side of Istanbul.

There were no Israeli diplomats at the mission at the time of the shootout, as most have been evacuated since the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas in Israel that set off the Gaza war.

Israel said it would not be cowed after the incident, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the "treacherous attack" and vowed to fight "all kinds of terrorism".

In December, Daesh members opened fire on police in Yalova, about 90 kilometres southeast of Istanbul, killing three officers and wounding nine.

Turkish police have stepped up nationwide raids against IS militants, rounding up 125 suspects after that attack.

Daesh has carried out other deadly attacks in Turkey, including one at a nightclub in Istanbul that killed 39 people in 2017.

The UAE has condemned and denounced in the strongest terms the terrorist attack targeting the premises of the State of Israel's Consulate in Istanbul.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) stressed the UAE's categorical rejection of such attacks, emphasising the necessity of protecting diplomatic premises, missions, and their personnel in accordance with international law and norms, particularly the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which guarantees the inviolability of diplomatic premises and the protection of diplomatic staff.

The ministry further expressed its strong condemnation of these criminal acts and its permanent rejection of all forms of violence, extremism, and terrorism aimed at undermining security and stability, in contravention of international law.