Istanbul governor calls for calm after series of attacks on police

ISTANBUL

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Istanbul’s governor has urged residents of Turkey’s biggest city to remain calm following a series of armed attacks on police officers and stations on March 3.

“We expect [Istanbul residents] to help our police and gendarmerie … We will respond [to such incidents] much more effectively if they share any suspect people or incidents with us,” the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Şahin as saying on March 4. 

Speaking to reporters after performing his Friday prayers, Şahin said Istanbul’s security forces were “on alert” against any kind of attack.        

“Our security forces are exerting the utmost efforts to provide confidence and tranquility in the city. Additional measures sometimes may need to be taken,” he added.        

Şahin’s remarks came after a number of armed attacks in Istanbul on March 3. 

Two female militants from the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) hit a police spot in Istanbul’s Bayrampaşa district on the European side of the city early in the morning.    
  
Later in the night, armed assailants opened fire on the car of a state university rector, leaving his private secretary slightly injured. In a separate incident, three attackers shot at a police car in the Okmeydanı neighborhood, connected to the Kağıthane and Şişli districts on Istanbul’s European side.      

The DHKP-C, which has been listed as a terrorist organization also by the U.S. and the EU, has carried out a number of attacks in Turkey, including a suicide bombing on U.S. Embassy in Ankara and an armed attack on the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, as well as many attacks on Turkish security forces.  
     
“They [terror organizations] are trying to show their power, but it will come to nothing with the help of God and with the efforts of our friends [security forces],” Governor Şahin said on March 4.

Istanbul’s historical district of Fatih was also struck by a suicide bomber from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in January. The suicide attack killed 11 people - mostly Germans - in the Sultanahmet Square, home to the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.