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| Gun Battle Erupts Outside U.S. Consulate in Istanbul | Gun Battle Erupts Outside U.S. Consulate in Istanbul |
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| ISTANBUL — Attackers opened fire outside the American consulate here on Monday morning, setting off a brief gun battle with the police as violence in Turkey continued to escalate nearly two weeks after the government began what it called a major counterterrorism effort, part of which was increased cooperation with the United States in the fight against the Islamic State. | ISTANBUL — Attackers opened fire outside the American consulate here on Monday morning, setting off a brief gun battle with the police as violence in Turkey continued to escalate nearly two weeks after the government began what it called a major counterterrorism effort, part of which was increased cooperation with the United States in the fight against the Islamic State. |
| No Americans or Turkish police officers were wounded in the attack, which ended when the two assailants fled. Turkish special forces later caught an injured woman at a house in the Sariyer district of Istanbul suspected of having taken part in the attack, according to the semiofficial Anadolu news agency. | No Americans or Turkish police officers were wounded in the attack, which ended when the two assailants fled. Turkish special forces later caught an injured woman at a house in the Sariyer district of Istanbul suspected of having taken part in the attack, according to the semiofficial Anadolu news agency. |
| The assault was one of four major incidents of violence across Turkey on Monday, none of them attributed to the Islamic State. They were instead blamed on the Marxist and anti-American Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front, which claimed the consulate attack, and the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or P.K.K. That group has fought an insurgency in Turkey for more than three decades and Turkey’s government views it as a primary threat. | The assault was one of four major incidents of violence across Turkey on Monday, none of them attributed to the Islamic State. They were instead blamed on the Marxist and anti-American Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front, which claimed the consulate attack, and the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or P.K.K. That group has fought an insurgency in Turkey for more than three decades and Turkey’s government views it as a primary threat. |
| The pattern of increased violence in recent weeks has raised alarm among the Turkish public, and comes against the backdrop of political instability. After national elections held on June 7, the Islamist Justice and Development Party, or A.K.P., which has ruled for more than a decade, was left without a majority in Parliament, and has failed to agree on a coalition with opposition parties since then. With those talks seemingly at a deadlock, the prospect of new elections — probably in November — has become more likely. | The pattern of increased violence in recent weeks has raised alarm among the Turkish public, and comes against the backdrop of political instability. After national elections held on June 7, the Islamist Justice and Development Party, or A.K.P., which has ruled for more than a decade, was left without a majority in Parliament, and has failed to agree on a coalition with opposition parties since then. With those talks seemingly at a deadlock, the prospect of new elections — probably in November — has become more likely. |
| The June election was a significant defeat for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had hoped for a large A.K.P. majority in a bid to rewrite the constitution to establish an executive presidency. Many critics now accuse him of renewing an armed struggle with the P.K.K. to foster nationalist sentiment and reclaim lost votes in new elections. | The June election was a significant defeat for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had hoped for a large A.K.P. majority in a bid to rewrite the constitution to establish an executive presidency. Many critics now accuse him of renewing an armed struggle with the P.K.K. to foster nationalist sentiment and reclaim lost votes in new elections. |
| That long conflict with the P.K.K. had waned in recent years as a fragile cease-fire took hold and the P.K.K. and its affiliates began fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. The successes that an offshoot of the P.K.K. has had in fighting the militants — with American support — and how Syrian Kurds have begun to carve out an autonomous enclave along the Turkish border have unnerved Turkey. | That long conflict with the P.K.K. had waned in recent years as a fragile cease-fire took hold and the P.K.K. and its affiliates began fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. The successes that an offshoot of the P.K.K. has had in fighting the militants — with American support — and how Syrian Kurds have begun to carve out an autonomous enclave along the Turkish border have unnerved Turkey. |
| The Turkish government views the enclave as a security threat, fearing it could incite Kurds in Turkey to seek more autonomy. But the attacks on the P.K.K. and its affiliates have left Turkey, a NATO member, in the position of bombing an ally of the United States that is coordinating attacks for American bombing runs against the Islamic State in northern Syria. | The Turkish government views the enclave as a security threat, fearing it could incite Kurds in Turkey to seek more autonomy. But the attacks on the P.K.K. and its affiliates have left Turkey, a NATO member, in the position of bombing an ally of the United States that is coordinating attacks for American bombing runs against the Islamic State in northern Syria. |
| Parallel to the renewed attacks against the P.K.K. has been a more aggressive approach by Turkey toward the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh. Turkish officials have granted American warplanes access to their air bases to help strike Islamic State positions in Syria and Iraq, which would help the United States clear the Islamic State from a stretch of its border with Syria. In recent days Turkey’s top religious body, which is overseen by the state, said it would begin distributing anti-ISIS sermons to mosques around the country. | Parallel to the renewed attacks against the P.K.K. has been a more aggressive approach by Turkey toward the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh. Turkish officials have granted American warplanes access to their air bases to help strike Islamic State positions in Syria and Iraq, which would help the United States clear the Islamic State from a stretch of its border with Syria. In recent days Turkey’s top religious body, which is overseen by the state, said it would begin distributing anti-ISIS sermons to mosques around the country. |
| The decision by Turkey to play a bigger role in the fight against ISIS was welcomed by the United States, which had been sharply critical of Turkey’s leadership for more than a year for failing to do more in the fight against the militants. | The decision by Turkey to play a bigger role in the fight against ISIS was welcomed by the United States, which had been sharply critical of Turkey’s leadership for more than a year for failing to do more in the fight against the militants. |
| The consulate attack came a day after the United States military said it had sent six fighter jets to the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey. The group that claimed responsibility, the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Front-Party, has attacked American interests in Turkey before and appeared to be motivated by the American military presence here. | The consulate attack came a day after the United States military said it had sent six fighter jets to the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey. The group that claimed responsibility, the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Front-Party, has attacked American interests in Turkey before and appeared to be motivated by the American military presence here. |
| “Our struggle will continue until imperialism and its collaborators leave our country and every parcel of our homeland is cleared of U.S. bases,” the group said in a statement on its website. In 2013, the group claimed responsibility for a suicide attack against the American embassy in Ankara, the Turkish capital. | |
| Officials at the consulate said in a statement that they were working with the Turkish authorities to investigate the attack and that it would be closed to the public until further notice. | |
| The gunfight near the consulate occurred a few hours after a bomb attack on an Istanbul police station that left one officer dead and at least 10 people wounded. Two people who were believed to have been involved in the bombing were killed in a shootout, according to reports in the Turkish news media, and no group claimed responsibility. | The gunfight near the consulate occurred a few hours after a bomb attack on an Istanbul police station that left one officer dead and at least 10 people wounded. Two people who were believed to have been involved in the bombing were killed in a shootout, according to reports in the Turkish news media, and no group claimed responsibility. |
| There were two attacks on Monday in the Kurdish-dominated southeastern Turkey province of Sirnak, where tensions have flared in recent weeks as citizens prepare for the return of a war they had hoped was ending as Mr. Erdogan, in recent years, pursued peace talks. | There were two attacks on Monday in the Kurdish-dominated southeastern Turkey province of Sirnak, where tensions have flared in recent weeks as citizens prepare for the return of a war they had hoped was ending as Mr. Erdogan, in recent years, pursued peace talks. |
| In one of the attacks, a roadside bomb in Silopi killed four police officers, according to local news reports. A Turkish soldier was killed in a separate attack in the Sirnak province after Kurdish militants opened fire at a military helicopter, the military said in a statement. | In one of the attacks, a roadside bomb in Silopi killed four police officers, according to local news reports. A Turkish soldier was killed in a separate attack in the Sirnak province after Kurdish militants opened fire at a military helicopter, the military said in a statement. |
| As the P.K.K., which has faced Turkish airstrikes on its bases in the mountains of northern Iraq, have increased attacks inside Turkey, Kurdish politicians here have scrambled to rein in the violence and preserve gains they made in the elections. The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, or H.D.P., passed a 10 percent threshold to enter Parliament for the first time, gains that experts said came at the expense of votes for the A.K.P. | As the P.K.K., which has faced Turkish airstrikes on its bases in the mountains of northern Iraq, have increased attacks inside Turkey, Kurdish politicians here have scrambled to rein in the violence and preserve gains they made in the elections. The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, or H.D.P., passed a 10 percent threshold to enter Parliament for the first time, gains that experts said came at the expense of votes for the A.K.P. |
| The H.D.P. and the P.K.K. largely share a constituency in Turkey, but they tend to operate separately. Selahattin Demirtas, the co-chair of the H.D.P., said at a peace rally in the southeastern province of Van on Saturday, “the P.K.K. must take its hands off the trigger immediately and declare that it will abide by the terms of the cease-fire.” | The H.D.P. and the P.K.K. largely share a constituency in Turkey, but they tend to operate separately. Selahattin Demirtas, the co-chair of the H.D.P., said at a peace rally in the southeastern province of Van on Saturday, “the P.K.K. must take its hands off the trigger immediately and declare that it will abide by the terms of the cease-fire.” |
| At a rally on Monday, Mr. Demirtas charged that the government had supported ISIS — a widely held view among Kurds in Turkey — and said Mr. Erdogan was using war to reverse his electoral defeat. | At a rally on Monday, Mr. Demirtas charged that the government had supported ISIS — a widely held view among Kurds in Turkey — and said Mr. Erdogan was using war to reverse his electoral defeat. |