Two individuals launched an attack on Turkey’s most famous courthouse and were subsequently shot dead, according to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. The incident took place at the Caglayan courthouse in Istanbul, where six people, including three police officers were injured. Minister Yerlikaya also reported that the attackers were believed to be affiliated with the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP/C), a far-left group considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union. One civilian, a woman, died as a result of the attack, as confirmed by Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc.
The Caglayan courthouse, also known as the Istanbul Justice Palace, is a heavily guarded court complex in the Kagithane district, and was once the largest courthouse in Europe when it opened in 2011. Video footage released by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency depicted the assailants firing at police before being killed in the building’s forecourt while bystanders sought cover. According to a report by private news agency DHA, the female attacker’s older sister appeared as a defendant at the courthouse just half an hour after the attack. She was facing charges of membership in a terrorist organization and possessing dangerous materials.
Tunc told journalists that the attackers had previously served jail terms for terror-related offenses. Eye witness Emre Ozyurt described the panic and fear that gripped bystanders as the attack unfolded, stating that his “blood froze” as people fled the scene.
This attack occurred on the same day as Turkey commemorated the anniversary of a deadly earthquake in the south that claimed the lives of more than 53,000 people. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan affirmed the country’s commitment to combatting all terrorist organizations and their supporters at a commemoration ceremony in the city of Kahramanmaras, also offering prayers for the soul of the deceased. The DHKP/C group previously gained attention in March 2015 when they took a prosecutor hostage at the same courthouse, and in February 2013, claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack on the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, resulting in casualties.
