Turkey detains 2 more suspects in US Embassy gun attack

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Turkish police detained two more people on Aug. 24 for their suspected links to the United States Embassy drive-by shooting in the Turkish capital Ankara on Aug. 20, said state-run Anadolu Agency, citing a police source.

The latest detentions on Aug. 24 raise the total number of detainees to four.

The suspects were taken in for interrogation, the source said.

The detention period was extended for suspects Ahmet Çelikten and Osman Gündaş, who were detained on Aug. 20, the source added.

According to the Ankara Governor’s Office, the suspects confessed to their involvement in the attack.

Çelikten, 39, and Gündaş, 38, were detained after six shots were fired from a white vehicle at the U.S. Embassy’s main entrance in Ankara at 5:30 a.m. local time on Aug. 20. Three bullets hit the metal door and glass panel of the security cabin, causing no casualties.

“I had called Osman [Gündaş] that night and we met. We drank and drove around. We talked about the dollar crisis, about the U.S. threats against Turkey and about the recent statements of the U.S. president. Then we got angry and decided to shoot at the U.S. Embassy under the influence of alcohol,” Çelikten said previously in his police testimony.