Turkey arrests two over shots fired at US embassy

Turkey arrests two over shots fired at US embassy
Ankara condemned the shooting as a "clear provocation" and reiterated that foreign diplomats are guests in Turkey.
2 min read
21 August, 2018
US embassy in Ankara [Getty]
Two suspects were detained on Tuesday in Ankara over a shooting at the US embassy yesterday before dawn, an attack that came during heightened tensions between the two NATO allies.

There were no casualties in the fleeting attack, in which three of the six bullets fired hit the embassy gate and a reinforced window in the building in Ankara.

The Ankara governor's office named the suspects as Ahmet Celikten, 39, and Osman Gundas, 38, saying they had confessed. Authorities seized a 9-millimetre gun and a vehicle with Ankara licence plates.

Both men had criminal records, the governor's office said.

Celikten had reportedly escaped prison and Gundas had several crimes under his belt, including car theft, drugs and threats.

The US Embassy thanked Turkish authorities, tweeting that it appreciated their "fast and professional action" in arresting the two suspects.

Turkish officials are locked in a trade and diplomatic dispute with the US but they fully condemned the shooting. A top official in Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party said the attack was a "clear provocation" and that foreign diplomats are guests of the country.

The US Embassy was planning to close at midday Monday anyway until the end of the week for the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Tensions between the US and Turkey are high, partly because of the case of Andrew Brunson, an American pastor who is being prosecuted in Turkey on terror-related charges. US President Donald Trump has called for his immediate release and Washington doubled tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminium earlier this month to apply diplomatic pressure. 

The Turkish lira has lost 20 percent of its value against the dollar since tariffs were announced. 

US diplomatic offices have been targeted in the past in Turkey.

At least one suspect was wounded in a shooting outside the US consulate in Istanbul in 2015. In 2013, a suicide bomber killed a Turkish guard and himself outside the embassy in Ankara. In 2008, three assailants and three Turkish police officers died in a shootout outside the Istanbul consulate.

Diplomatic officials from other countries have also been targeted in recent years. In 2016, the Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov was assassinated by an off-duty Turkish police officer. 

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