Turkish security forces have detained nearly 200 people in a nationwide sweep one day after a shootout outside Israel’s consulate general in İstanbul, Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said Wednesday.
Gürlek posted on X that officers had detained 198 suspects in a simultaneous operation in 34 provinces against “the terrorist organization Daesh,” another name for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Dün İstanbul Levent’teki polis noktasına 3 terörist tarafından düzenlenen silahlı saldırının ardından, Cumhuriyet Başsavcılıklarımızın koordinasyonunda DEAŞ terör örgütüne karşı 34 ilde eş zamanlı operasyon gerçekleştirilmiştir.
Cumhuriyet başsavcılıklarımızın koordinesinde…
— Akın Gürlek (@abakingurlek) April 8, 2026
A gunman was killed and two others were wounded in Tuesday’s shootout with police outside the consulate, with two officers slightly wounded.
Twelve of those arrested have been placed in pretrial detention, including the two injured gunmen, who were hospitalized, 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 ISIL.
The interior ministry said he had ties to a “terrorist organization” and that the two wounded gunmen were brothers with links to drug trafficking.
Bloodstained ground
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 İzmit, about 86 kilometers (50 miles) from İstanbul.
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 İstanbul.
There were no Israeli diplomats at the mission at the time of the shootout since most were evacuated after 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 Erdoğan condemned the “treacherous attack” and vowed to fight “all kinds of terrorism.”
In December, ISIL members opened fire on police in Yalova, about 90 kilometers southeast of İstanbul, killing three officers and wounding nine.
Turkish police have stepped up nationwide raids against ISIL militants, rounding up 125 suspects after that attack.
ISIL has carried out other deadly attacks in Turkey, including one at a nightclub in İstanbul that killed 39 people in 2017.
© Agence France-Presse