Güncelleme Tarihi:
Turkish security sources said all three assailants were from eastern
Four armed men drove a car up to the high-walled compound situated in
An official told Hurriyet daily the three attackers had only recently returned to
The official also added that the assailants were members of a Turkish Sunni Islamic fundamentalist group, known as the Great Eastern Islamic Raiders Front, or IBDA-C.
Another possibility is that this attack may be considered a "revenge attack", since two of the three assailants killed come from the same southeastern
militant who was reportedly killed in a
As yet no clear motive for the attack has been identified and it is still unclear whether the attackers were trying to force entry into the consulate compound or, as some media reports have claimed, simply to attack Turkish police guarding the compound.
In 2003, al Qaeda claimed responsibility for devastating bombings of the British Consulate in Istanbul, the local headquarters of the HSBC Bank and two synagogues, which together left 58 dead, including British Consul General Roger Short.