Daesh sympathizer shot after attacking police in Istanbul

A suspected sympathizer of the Daesh terrorist group was shot by police after he stabbed two police officers outside the office of a district governorate in Istanbul on Tuesday.

The suspect was apprehended by police guarding the governorate in the city’s Silivri district. Footage from the scene showed him lunging at officers before they drew their guns and fired at the suspect. Two officers and the suspect were hospitalized after the attack.

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, who was in Silivri to attend an event, told reporters that the police officers were in good health after their treatment. He said the unnamed suspect was a known figure to police and was interrogated earlier by a crime prevention unit of local police. “His family had already filed complaints against him repeatedly and he was partially mentally unstable,” Soylu said. “We know he sympathized with a group affiliated with Halis Bayancuk after he watched their videos. I think he was motivated to carry out this attack after watching the videos,” he said.

Halis Bayancuk, charged with terrorism on allegations that he was a senior figure of Daesh in Türkiye, is currently in prison in Silivri. He was sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison on charges of running a terrorist organization last year. He openly declared allegiance to Daesh in 2014 with a social media video and has served time in prison repeatedly for his links to terrorist groups.

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