Baku-APA. The prosecutor has been seriously injured while two gunmen who took him hostage were killed in a shootout, APA reports quoting Turkish Media.
Prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz was being held hostage in his office at the İstanbul Courthouse. The outlawed leftist group that took the prosecutor hostage -- the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) -- announced the hostage taking in a statement published on a website called Halkın Sesi, which included a photo of Kiraz with a gun pointed at his head.
The statement said the prosecutor would be “punished by death” if demands were not met by 3:36 p.m. -- three hours after he was first taken hostage.
By 8:30 p.m. local time, multiple gunshots and explosions were heard and smoke was visible from the floor where the prosecutor was held. Security forces were seen outside and an ambulance raced to a rear door, sirens blaring.
İstanbul police chief Selami Altınok told reporters on Tuesday night that six-hour negotiations yielded no results and that the special forces had to launch an operation after multiple gunshots were heard inside the room where the prosecutor was taken hostage.
The police chief said the gunshots from the room came while the authorities were in communication with the militants and they decided to move in. The prosecutor was seriously injured while the militants were killed in the shootout. He added that the prosecutor was taken to hospital and is currently under surgery.
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