Prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz and his two captors killed in bloody end to six-hour hostage drama

A SENIOR Turkish prosecutor and his two hostage-takers were killed on Tuesday when security forces launched an operation to free the official in a bloody end to a six-hour standoff in Istanbul.

 

Two radical leftist militants had earlier taken the Istanbul prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz hostage in his office, putting a gun to his head and threatening to kill him if their demands were not met.


Their demands related to the investigation Kiraz was leading 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 in the summer of 2013.

Held at gunpoint ... prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz had been investigating the death of an anti-government protester.

 

Stand guard ... Members of security forces stand outside the main courthouse in Istanbul.

 

The authorities initially tried negotiating with the captors on a hugely tense day in Turkey’s largest city which also suffered a major power cut.

But they decided to launch an operation to free the prosecutor when gunfire was heard in their mobile phone communications with the captors, Istanbul police chief Selami Altinok told reporters outside the courthouse.

Altinok said the two “terrorists” had been killed. Kiraz was taken to hospital but rapidly succumbed to his wounds, doctors said in a statement on television.
“When he arrived he had gunshot wounds both to his head and his chest. His breathing and heart had stopped,” the statement said.

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.

Standoff ... Turkish special forces take position in front of the courthouse. Picture: AFP Source: AFP