Three gunmen fired on police officers near the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on April 7. The firefight left one attacker dead, two police officers wounded, and two suspects in custody.
Footage uploaded to social media shows three armed suspects firing on Turkish police stationed outside a high-rise building housing the Israeli consulate in Istanbul’s main business district. The attackers were equipped with backpacks, automatic rifles, and handguns. Turkish authorities did not detail what motivated the gunmen to carry out the shooting, but US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack signaled in a post on X that the Israeli consulate was the target of the attack.
Despite being the apparent target, Israel’s Foreign Ministry told The Jerusalem Post that the consulate is not staffed.
Turkish Minister of the Interior Mustafa Çiftçi said that authorities identified the attackers, noting that the gunmen arrived in Istanbul in a rental vehicle from the coastal city of İzmit. He added that one of the gunmen was linked to an organization that “exploits religion,” while another suspect had a drug record.
The Ministry of the Interior named the attackers as Yunus E.S., who was killed in the shootout and had links to a terrorist organization, along with Onur Ç. and Enes Ç., both of whom are in Turkish custody. According to the Turkish news outlet Haberler.com, Yunus had previously been arrested in 2018 in connection with a murder.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan condemned the attack, calling it a “heinous act of terror.” Israel denounced the shooting and thanked Turkish security forces for their “swift action” to neutralize the attackers.
While it remains unclear whether a terrorist organization orchestrated the shooting, the Islamic State has recently called for attacks targeting Jews. In a recent edition of its Al Naba newspaper, the group encouraged jihadists to burn synagogues across the United States, Europe, and elsewhere during the Passover holiday (April 1–9).
Separately, the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) has demonstrated operational capacity in Turkey. Late last year, Turkish authorities captured senior ISKP member Mehmet Gören, who was reportedly directed to carry out suicide attacks in Turkey, Europe, and other countries.
Joe Truzman is an editor and senior research analyst at FDD's Long War Journal focused primarily on Palestinian armed groups and non-state actors in the Middle East.
Tags: ISKP, Islamic State, Israel, terrorist attacks, Turkey
