Three policemen and three gunmen have died in an attack near the US consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul.
Six people have died in a gun battle outside the US consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul.
The US ambassador to Turkey condemned it as "an obvious act of terrorism" aimed at the US. No injuries were reported to staff inside the consulate. Officials said the attackers' identity was unclear but local media suggested they might be linked to al-Qaeda.
The city's Governor, Muammer Guler, said three policemen and three attacking gunmen were killed.
Another policeman and the driver of a police tow-truck were injured in the ensuing gun battle, officials said.
No injuries were reported to staff inside the consulate. The US ambassador to Turkey condemned it as "an obvious act of terrorism" aimed at the US.
After the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, the consulate was moved from the centre of Istanbul to a hill on the outskirts in the north-eastern Istinye district.
The driver of a vehicle that dropped off the gunmen at the consulate reportedly escaped.
It opened in 2003, and has checkpoints and barriers well away from the main building.
One of them approached a policeman while hiding his gun and shot him in the head Yavuz Erkut Yuksel
No identification
Reports quoted police sources as saying the suspects belonged to a Turkish Sunni Islamic fundamentalist group, says David O'Byrne in Istanbul.
Speaking at a news conference after the consulate attack, Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler said one of the Turkish police officers had died at the scene. The other two died of their wounds later, at a nearby hospital.
The Great Eastern Islamic Raiders Front is thought to have links to al-Qaeda, says our correspondent.
"There is no doubt that this was a terrorist attack," Mr Guler said.
The consulate was moved from the centre of Istanbul to a hill on the northern outskirts of the city following the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US.
The city governor said two of the dead attackers had been identified as Turkish. He did not release any names and said he was unwilling to speculate about who they might have been.
'Cowardly and dastardly'
The US ambassador to Turkey, Ross Wilson, told a news conference in Ankara: "It is enough to say they are terrorists who carried out a cowardly and dastardly attack."
A witness to the attack, Yavuz Erkut Yuksel, said the attackers had initially emerged from a car and surprised the police officers guarding the building.
He said the US and Turkey would "stand together in the fight against international terrorism".
Turkish President Abdullah Gul also condemned such attacks, saying: "Turkey will fight to the end against those who are behind them."
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on a visit to Tblisi, Georgia, expressed "deep regret" for the loss of life and said the US appreciated the rapid response of the Turkish authorities.
The EU's French presidency issued a statement condemning the attack "in the strongest possible terms" and expressing its solidarity with the Turkish and US governments.
Shotguns
A police source in Istanbul told the Associated Press that the authorities suspect al-Qaeda was behind the attack. Local television stations also said the gunmen were suspected al-Qaeda members.
One of them approached a policeman while hiding his gun and shot him in the head Yavuz Erkut Yuksel 'Three Germans seized' in Turkey
Television footage showed paramedics carrying out CPR on one person on the ground outside the high-walled complex. Blood could be seen flowing from the head of one of the three other men lying nearby.
Istanbul prosecutor Aykut Cengiz Engin said the attackers had been armed with pistols and shotguns.
The police are also looking for a fourth man, who was driving a grey Ford Focus car that dropped off the gunmen outside the consulate and left before the attack.
A witness, Yavuz Erkut Yuksel, said the attackers had initially emerged from a car and surprised the police officers guarding the building.
"One of them approached a policeman while hiding his gun and shot him in the head," he told CNN-Turk.
"One of them approached a policeman while hiding his gun and shot him in the head," he told CNN-Turk.
Enis Yilmaz, who was applying for a visa at the consulate, said there had been four attackers, one of whom had escaped.
Governor Guler said: "There is no doubt this was a terrorist attack."
"Three of them got out of the car and fired at the police. I saw them dead afterwards, lying on the ground and many more dead among the police," he told the Reuters news agency.
The US ambassador to Turkey, Ross Wilson, said: "It is enough to say they are terrorists who carried out a cowardly and dastardly attack."
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Turkish President Abdullah Gul said: "Turkey will fight to the end against those who are behind them."
Aftermath of attack at US consulate
Turkey has seen armed attacks from a variety of groups in recent years.
Turkey has seen armed attacks from a variety of groups in recent years, the most deadly of which occurred in November 2003, when 58 people were killed by Islamist militants in suicide bombings outside two synagogues, the British consulate and a British bank in Istanbul.
The most deadly was in November 2003, when 58 people were killed by Islamist militants in suicide bombings outside two synagogues, the British consulate and a British bank in Istanbul.
The PKK has also been blamed for several attacks, including a car bombing that killed six people in the city of Diyarbakir in January.
The Kurdish rebels of the PKK have also been blamed for several attacks, including a car bombing that killed six people in the city of Diyarbakir in January.
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