Three killed in shooting near Israeli consulate in Turkiye’s Istanbul

[0:00] now we are just getting in this footage this is from istanbul in turkey where we learned a short [0:08] while ago that gunfire had been heard outside or near a building that houses amongst other things [0:17] the israeli consulate in istanbul we are joined by our turkey a correspondent sinem koseolu sinem [0:25] what do you know at this point what are you learning so far we have been hearing statements [0:31] by the istanbul police department in which they said they have neutralized which means killed [0:38] three people also the israeli embassy officials informed the journalists here in turkey [0:47] that there are no israeli diplomats residing neither in istanbul's general consulate building [0:54] nor in the israeli embassy in the turkish capital ankara this is what we know [1:01] so far that three people tried to open a gunfire and they have been eliminated by the turkish [1:08] police but also i spoke to some eyewitnesses in the area who were just out for smoking in front of [1:15] that tall building as you have also mentioned the area where israeli istanbul consulate is located [1:22] there are two skyscrapers high buildings which are known to be the first high buildings in istanbul [1:31] many companies there are thousands of people working in these outfits and israeli [1:37] consulate is just on the seventh floor of uh one of those uh high buildings uh and there's a security [1:44] implant of the building uh serving for everyone uh the waiver that i spoke to was telling me that [1:51] he was just smoking with his colleague and three people came with a car tried to open a gunfire [1:57] and then the security uh fire [2:01] them back. And according to the eyewitness that I spoke to, the security told him that [2:08] one of the attackers just said, Allahu Akbar, and opened a gunfire. Of course, there will [2:15] be an investigation opened into this. We will be hearing more from the officials on the [2:21] Turkish side, along with Israeli side. But these are the initial information that we [2:27] know so far. But I have to underline that the area is a very busy business district, [2:33] residing so many companies and thousands of employees. And as for the Israeli officials, [2:40] there are no Israeli diplomats serving in the consulate building in Istanbul, and no [2:46] Israeli diplomats on the Israeli embassy in the Turkish capital, Ankara, which means [2:51] the employees who are inside those diplomatic missions are mostly [2:57] diplomats. [2:57] Thank you very much for that. We are trying to establish the basic facts about this story. [3:09] So I'm just going to go through what you've been telling us. You tell me if I'm missing [3:13] anything or if there's anything you can add to this at this point. So you've confirmed [3:17] it's 1 p.m., by the way, in Istanbul, right? So 1 p.m. local time in Turkey. And just in [3:24] the last few moments, so in the last hour or so. [3:28] Very recently, three people opened fire near a building. You've told us this is a very [3:33] busy commercial district, many businesses across multiple buildings in that area. But [3:39] three people opened fire outside a building that houses the Israeli consulates and the [3:46] police and security forces then fired back. Do we know at this point, and I'm not sure [3:52] if you said this, do we know at this point if the assailants were neutralized? [3:58] Neutralized. Neutralized, which means they were killed by the personnel during the exodus [4:32] that I saw, three of them on the floor. [4:46] Do you know if people were injured other than the assailants? [4:50] There is no confirmation, but there is a line. We need to confirm. If it's true, I have no [5:06] information how hard he has been injured. But probably we will be hearing about this [5:14] very soon as well. [5:16] We heard nothing about any civilians being injured so far. But of course, things are [5:21] very fresh. Incident happened just less than an hour ago. And I'm sure the security officials [5:28] are also trying to select the true information. But I must inform that the area has been sealed [5:42] by the police. There is no end, but there is a tight security measure around the building. [5:57] Yes. And Emma, I understand that you are, even as you're reporting and even, [6:02] as you're live on the phone with us, you're also trying to make your way to the scene [6:06] of that attack. Can I confirm something with you that the attack has now ended? We're seeing [6:11] live footage of a heavy security presence. There is no indication that there's a manhunt [6:17] underway or that there's an active shooter situation. But I want to confirm with you. [6:22] For now, on the eyewitnesses or the official statements so far that are giving us the scene [6:57] of the attack, there is no indication that there's a manhunt or that there's a manhunt [6:58] going on. [6:59] No, there's no indication that there's a manhunt or that there's a manhunt going on [7:00] on the street level. But probably, since the area is sealed, the security is trying to [7:03] confirm whether there is any sleeping agent or any hidden attacker across the area. And [7:11] we have no information about the ties, what kind of ties these attackers have to which [7:18] organization, whether this is a terrorist organization or is it an individual attack, [7:25] or whether these people are in the area or not. [7:26] Okay. [7:27] Whether these people are marginalized. We don't have any information, any details about [7:34] the motive, the modus operandi of the attack so far. [7:39] Yeah, no indication on motives, no claim of responsibility so far, no indication. It's [7:44] way too early for that to know what this might be tied to. The Turkish Justice Minister Sinem [7:50] is saying that Türkiye will carry out diligent investigations, that's the word he's using, [7:56] a diligent investigation. [7:58] Okay. [7:59] So, Sinem, we're going to move into this shooting incident. Sinem, can you situate us with the [8:01] geography here? What part of Istanbul is this in? [8:06] The area is called the Levant neighborhood in Sisli district, one of the busiest business [8:14] centers of Istanbul. The area is full of high buildings, like the one that the Israeli consulate, [8:25] general consulate is located in. [8:28] As I have mentioned earlier, thousands of people are in the area. The area is full of [8:29] high buildings, like the one that the Israeli consulate, general consulate is located in. [8:30] As I have mentioned earlier, thousands of people are in the area. The area is full of [8:31] high buildings, like the one that the Israeli consulate, general consulate is located in. [8:32] As I have mentioned earlier, thousands of people are working around these areas and [8:33] these buildings. There are so many national and international companies located there. [8:40] There are international news agencies in those areas. [8:45] Also, and this is like a transit location. You have the subway, you have the buses, [8:53] you have the taxi. In terms of traffic, this is one of the busiest areas, especially during [8:58] the rush hours. [8:59] the rush hours and taking a look at the timing of the attack it was exactly the noon time by [9:06] the way there are uh general uh the headquarters of some of the uh turkish biggest turkish uh [9:14] national banks over there so this is not only a business area this is also a finance area and [9:21] just when you move aside from these areas you have the residential area you have the residential area [9:29] there are schools around those places and it's in nearly uh on the side of one of the major uh [9:39] major roads or it's not a highway but it's actually a very close to the junction of a [9:45] major highway so the area is okay yeah you're explaining how you're explaining how busy the [9:53] area is cinem um for businesses both local and international for media outlets news agencies [10:00] uh financial as well with many banks in that area and in those buildings was also the israeli [10:06] consulate since that is the first information that we got how close do you know this at this point [10:12] how close were the assailants to the israeli consulate as i have mentioned the israeli [10:21] consulate is on the seventh floor of one of those towers one of those buildings and [10:27] there is a security gate at the entrance of the building this is a place [10:33] where most of us go uh where there are as i mentioned uh there are other media outlets [10:40] in those places that's why we know the area and there's a security cabin in front of the building [10:46] in effect and there there's a busy road in front of it as for the i listen uh statement to me on [10:54] the phone they came very close because they were able to fire uh open a fire uh towards towards [11:03] the building apparently if they were able to uh by the way they have a very tight security in [11:10] those kinds of buildings with those guns uh would it be possible for them to get inside the building [11:16] and go up on this on that floor where the israeli consulate is located it doesn't seem logical but [11:58] police and security because of the embassy by the way uh there is a tight security there is always [12:03] police around the area and there are other uh [12:08] there are other uh consulates uh buildings residences in the area close to close to that [12:15] tower where israeli consulate is located so the area is tightly controlled by the police in general [12:23] every day okay this is interesting information synonym you're saying the area [12:28] is an area that has tight security on it just as part of a of the normal security posture [12:35] in that area because there are many businesses banks and consulates [12:39] from multiple countries, as you've explained. [12:41] Since you know that particular building, [12:43] you explained to us that there are media outlets [12:44] and news agencies within that building, [12:46] and therefore you are used to going at that exact spot. [12:49] How would you describe the security around that building specifically? [12:56] Normally you go through, when you enter the building, [13:00] you give your ID card, you go through the X-ray, [13:03] you go through security to go up for the other floors. [13:09] And there is always a police car in that street. [13:15] These are the security measures that are visible. [13:20] Definitely, when you have a diplomatic mission in an area, [13:25] as a host country, you have security measures [13:28] that are visible to the civilians and that are invisible to the others. [13:33] I'm sure intelligence must also have, [13:40] obviously, a role in that. [13:40] Other measures, besides the police, [13:43] besides the security measures, that can be seen. [13:48] But, as I said, since I haven't reached the place, [13:53] I don't know whether they had some extra security measures [13:57] due to the latest tension between Israel, Iran and the United States. [14:03] But the area, since the Israeli consulate is located there, [14:08] is sometimes seen to angry Turkish people, [14:11] protesting against the Israeli aggression, attacks [14:15] and war crimes committed against the Palestinians in Gaza. [14:21] And there are usually protests over there. [14:26] But we haven't witnessed anything like this before in the area. [14:30] Sinem, stay with us because I do want to show our viewers pictures [14:34] that we got a short while ago. [14:36] This is what we could see a few moments ago. [14:39] So this shows us... [14:42] that there were people on the ground. [14:45] They were surrounded by security forces. [14:46] There are people who were injured. [14:48] Now, remember Sinem's reporting from just a little while ago. [14:51] She was telling us that three people opened fire [14:54] and that they were then retaliated against, [15:00] or rather, I should say that security forces around the building [15:03] then opened fire at them. [15:06] And the word that was used by Turkish security forces [15:09] is that they were neutralized. [15:10] So we understand that those three people have been killed. [15:13] Those are the pictures that we are getting in. [15:18] Sinem, you said something that I think is important context here. [15:21] There's security, there's visible security around that building [15:24] and in the area generally, [15:25] because there are several diplomatic missions in those buildings. [15:28] And you mentioned, this is of course very true, [15:31] that anytime you have a significant diplomatic presence [15:36] in a major city or elsewhere, [15:37] you're also going to have a more discreet security presence. [15:40] So I'm just bringing that to our viewers. [15:42] There will be either plainclothes, [15:44] police officers, [15:45] or there will be people on the lookout [15:46] that won't be obviously labeled as members of the security force [15:52] or members of police to civilians and bystanders. [15:56] But there is another layer that is less visible, [15:58] as Sinem was reporting, [15:59] another layer of security typically around diplomatic buildings [16:06] or diplomatic missions. [16:08] Sinem, tell us, you were reporting a little while ago [16:13] that there were no diplomats. [16:15] There are no Israeli diplomats at the Israeli consulate [16:19] or at the Israeli embassy. [16:21] Is that what you were saying? [16:22] Yes. [16:26] This is what the Israeli embassy press people just informed us about [16:31] as soon as the attack happened. [16:33] They said we have no information yet, [16:36] but we have to underline that there is no Israeli diplomat [16:41] neither in Istanbul General Consulate nor in the Ankara embassy, [16:47] which we don't know. [16:48] We can presume that the staff that is working right now [16:53] are the local staff. [16:55] But I have to correct one thing about what you have mentioned. [16:58] Please go ahead. [16:59] Yes. [17:00] We have the Israeli Istanbul Consulate in that tower, [17:05] in that building. [17:07] As I mentioned, as you go further from those towers, [17:14] there is a residential area where you have one story, [17:18] two stories. [17:18] Three-story buildings, which are mostly like villas. [17:22] And among them, there are many, many, many diplomatic missions [17:27] belonging to the foreign countries' representation across Turkey. [17:36] So that's... [17:37] Sinem, are you saying that many diplomatic missions [17:40] in the same building or in the general area? [17:42] No. [17:43] In the area, in the very close-by area, not in the building. [17:47] This is what I wanted to... [17:48] Sinem, are you saying that many diplomatic missions in the same building or in the general area? [17:49] Yes. [17:50] I don't think that's correct about what I have been reporting to, you know, [17:54] avoid any misunderstanding. [17:56] But having Israeli consulate in that building is, of course, very important because of Israeli [18:01] policies. [18:03] Turks have been, as I said, protesting against them in front of the tower for the last three [18:09] years after the war in Gaza started. [18:13] But we haven't seen any attack like this in that area targeting the Israeli consulate. [18:22] Of course, from a journalistic perspective, you know, you are not directly targeting [18:29] the diplomatic mission in that building. [18:32] You are probably giving a message. [18:35] I'm just speculating about the situation for now because I don't have much solid data to [18:42] report. [18:43] But this is a building full of maybe at least hundreds of companies or thousands of employees. [18:50] And you... [18:51] It is almost impossible for you to reach to the consulate office, which is on the seventh [19:01] floor or something. [19:02] So we are not sure whether the attack had any other mission to show, any other message [19:13] to deliver, or whether what the clear message from the attack was, what kind of motivation [19:21] they had. [19:22] We have no information. [19:23] We don't have any information about which group, any, whether they are... [19:33] Yes, Sinem, that is all vital reporting at this point. [19:37] We're saying what we know, and we're also being very clear about what we don't know. [19:40] It's 10.20 GMT, so it is 1.20 local time in Istanbul, in Turkey. [19:47] That was Sinem Kosioglu, who is getting to the scene of the attack, which she has told [19:53] us. [19:54] This is a very busy business. [19:55] Diplomatic, financial and commercial neighborhood in Istanbul. [20:02] And about an hour ago, shots rang out. [20:04] Three people opened fire. [20:09] Police opened fire back, responded. [20:12] And now the Istanbul governor says that two policemen were lightly wounded in that firefight. [20:17] One of the attackers was killed. [20:19] Two were injured at the scene of the incident. [20:24] The governor of Istanbul also says that... [20:27] They used rifles and guns to carry out attack at the Israeli consulate. [20:33] So this is information coming from the Istanbul governor. [20:37] And they're also saying that they're working to identify the attackers near the Israeli [20:41] consulate in Istanbul. [20:43] They don't have that information. [20:44] Sinem was also reporting that we don't know who they are, we don't know yet why they attempted [20:49] this attack. [20:50] But what we do know, again, coming from the governor, is that two policemen were lightly [20:54] wounded in the firefight, that one of the assailants was killed, and two were injured [20:58] at the scene.