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Turkish prosecutor taken hostage dies after police shootout kills two leftist militants Turkish prosecutor taken hostage dies after police shootout kills two leftist militants
(about 2 hours later)
A prosecutor who was taken hostage by leftists in his Istanbul office has died after a violent end to an all-day standoff. A senior Turkish prosecutor and two radical leftist militants who were holding him hostage at an Istanbul courthouse have died after special forces moved to bring the six-hour siege to an end on Tuesday evening.
Selami Altunok said on Tuesday that the prosecutor, Mehmet Selim Kiraz, had been seriously wounded and was taken to hospital after security forces stormed the courthouse where the far-left group had taken him hostage. He later died from his wounds. Mehmet Selim Kiraz had been held in his office by two members of a banned Turkish Marxist group who put a gun to his head and threatened to kill him if their demands were not met.
His two captors were also killed in the shootout. Following a tense standoff on a day when Turkey’s largest city also suffered a major power cut, authorities said that the operation had been launched when gunfire was heard in their mobile phone communications with the captors.
Altunok said police had negotiated with the gunmen for six hours before the violent end of the hostage situation. Six hours after the start of the siege, explosions and gunfire could be heard coming from the building and smoke billowed from a window.
The prosecutor had been investigating the politically sensitive death of an anti-government protester. The militants threatened to kill him if their demands were not met. A few minutes later, two ambulances, sirens wailing, raced away from the scene.
Kiraz was investigating the killing of Berkin Elvan, who died in March last year after spending 269 days in a coma due to injuries inflicted by police in the mass protests of early summer 2013. Istanbul police chief Selami Altinok told reporters outside the courthouse that the two hostage takers had been killed. Kiraz was taken to hospital but succumbed to his wounds, doctors said in a statement.
In a statement published by Turkish media, the hostage-taking was claimed by the radical Marxist Revolutionary People’s Liberation party/Front (DKKP/C), which has been behind a string of attacks over recent years. “When he arrived he had gunshot wounds both to his head and his chest. His breathing and heart had stopped,” they added.
The hostage-taking was claimed by the radical Marxist Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C).
The hostage takers’ demands were reported to relate to an investigation being led by Kiraz into the killing of teenager Berkin Elvan, who died in March last year after spending 269 days in a coma from injuries inflicted by police in anti-government protests centred around Istanbul’s Gezi Park in the summer of 2013.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, arriving on a visit to Romania, said the attackers had entered the courthouse disguised in legal robes.
He said Kiraz had suffered three gunshots to the head and two to his body, without elaborating further.
“This is not something to be taken lightly,” said Erdogan.
The DHKP-C earlier published pictures showing one of the militants – his face concealed by a scarf with the group’s red and yellow insignia – holding a gun to Kiraz’s head.
They had also plastered their flags and posters on the walls of his office located on the fifth floor of the courthouse building.
The group had given an afternoon deadline for the prosecutor to identify the police officers who they say were behind the killing of Elvan and force them to make a “live confession” or he would be shot.
Kiraz, wearing a suit and tie, was made to stare into the camera as the militant put his hand round his chin. His mouth was bound with duct tape.
A media blackout on reporting of the standoff had been implemented by the Turkish television watchdog, forcing Turkish television channels to cut the live transmissions of the incident.
Elvan succumbed to injuries sustained when he was hit by a tear gas canister fired by police in mass protests in the early summer of 2013 against the government of Erdogan, who was then premier.
Activists and others have long accused the authorities of covering up the circumstances of the 15-year-old’s death, while no police officer has been brought to trial over the case, despite the investigation.
In a phone call with opposition lawmaker Huseyin Aygun, Elvan’s father Sami asked that there be no more bloodshed, Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper reported.
He said: “My son died but I don’t want any other person to die. The prosecutor must be released. Blood cannot be washed away with blood.”
Related: Berkin Elvan funeral protests in Turkey – in picturesRelated: Berkin Elvan funeral protests in Turkey – in pictures
The group published pictures showing one of the militants – his face concealed by a scarf with the group’s red and yellow insignia – holding a gun to Kiraz’s head. They had also plastered their flags and posters on the walls of his office. The DHKP-C is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.
Turkish media said the group had given a deadline of 3.36pm for the prosecutor to identify the police officers who they said were behind the killing of Elvan or he would be shot. Their demands also include a “live confession” by the officers responsible. It claimed a attempted grenade attack in January on police guarding the Dolmabahce palace in Istanbul, where the prime minister has his office in the city, saying it was revenge for Elvan’s killing.
The group also demanded that the policemen be tried by “peoples’ courts” and for court officials to drop prosecutions or investigations against people who took part in protests denouncing the boy’s death. It also claimed a suicide attack in Istanbul later that month, but in a bizarre sequence of events then withdrew the claim, saying it had made a mistake.
Elvan succumbed to injuries sustained when he was hit by a tear-gas canister fired by police in the mass protests of early summer 2013 against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was then prime minister. The hostage-taking on Tuesday coincided with the worst power cut Turkey has seen for 15 years, which has caused chaos in Istanbul.
Elvan was aged 15 at the time of his death, which was followed by mass nationwide protests that were also largely put down by the police. There was no indication of a link between the two events although some reports said the armed radicals had been able to enter the courthouse as the metal detectors were not working due to the electricity outage.
Elvan has since become an icon for the Turkish far left and his supporters accuse the authorities of covering up the circumstances and perpetrators of his death. Erdogan had sparked an outcry after he called Elvan a thug with links to a “terrorist organisation” and encouraged his supporters at a rally to boo the teenager’s mother.