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Gunfight near Israeli consulate reminds Turkey of past militant attacks

According to witnesses and authorities, an attacker was killed during a gunfight with police outside of the building housing the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday.

Here is a list with the major terrorist attacks that have occurred in Turkey over the past few years.

December 29, 2025: Three Turkish police officers were killed and six Islamic State militants in Yalova, northwest Turkey.

A 16-year old was arrested on September 8, 2025, for the murder of two police officers during a shooting attack at a police station located in Izmir in western Turkey.

On October 24, 2024, two gunmen shot and killed five people at the largest Turkish aerospace company TUSAS. The attack was blamed by authorities on the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party.

On January 28, 2024, two masked gunmen kill one person at a church in Istanbul. The Islamic State was linked to suspects captured.

October 1, 2023: Two attackers detonated an explosive device outside Turkish government offices in Ankara. They killed themselves and injured two police officers. The PKK claimed responsibility.

November 13, 2022: A blast in a busy Istanbul street killed six people and injured 81. Ankara blamed a Syrian Kurdish YPG milita, which they consider a PKK affiliate. Both groups denied any involvement.

On January 5, 2017, a car bomb in Izmir caused the death of a policeman and an employee at a courthouse. Authorities claimed that PKK members are responsible.

December 31, 2016 –?Islamic State claimed the responsibility for a mass shooting that took place in an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Eve, killing 39 people.

A car bomb in Kayseri killed 13 soldiers on December 17, 2016. A PKK offshoot claimed responsibility.

On December 10, 2016, twin bombings took place outside a soccer stadium in Istanbul, killing 44 people. Most of them were police officers. The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks, a PKK-affiliated group, claimed responsibility.

At least 11 people were killed in an attack by a suicide truck at a police HQ in the southeast of Turkey on August 26, 2016. PKK claimed responsibility.

A suicide bomber killed at least 51 people in a suicide attack on a wedding celebration in Gaziantep. Tayyip Erdoan said that the attacker was linked to Islamic State.

On June 28, 2016, a triple suicide attack and gun assault at Istanbul's airport main killed 45 people and injured over 160. The attackers, who are believed to have links to the Islamic State, were given life sentences.

On March 19, 2016, a suicide?bomber in Istanbul killed four people, including two Israelis with dual citizenship and one Iranian. The alleged perpetrator was a Turkish member of the?Islamic State.

On March 13, 2016, a car bomb-laden exploded in a busy transport hub of Ankara. 37 people were killed. TAK claimed responsibility.

On February 17, 2016, a car bomb near military buses in Ankara killed 28 people and injured dozens. TAK claimed ?responsibility.

On January 12, 2016, a suicide bomber in Istanbul's historical centre killed at least ten people, most of them German tourists. Authorities blamed Islamic State for the attack.

On October 10, 2015,?Twin explosions near Ankara's main railway station killed more than 100 people. Turkish courts have sentenced perpetrators linked to the?Islamic State to life imprisonment.

PKK militants have killed 15 policemen in eastern provinces Mardin and Igdir on September 8, 2015.

On July 20, 2015, an Islamic State suicide bomber in Suruc, near the Syrian border, killed more than 30 people, mostly students. Canan Sevgili, Daren Butler, and Ros Russell edited the report.

(source: Reuters)