04 March 2016•Update: 04 March 2016
ISTANBUL
Istanbul’s governor has urged the city’s residents to stay calm following a gun-and-grenade attack on police officers on Thursday.
Speaking on Friday Vasip Sahin said the city’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,” Sahin told reporters. "Additional measures sometimes may be needed to be taken."
His remarks came after a gun-and-grenade attack conducted by two female assailants in Bayrampasa district on the European side of the city on Thursday morning.
The pair was members of the terrorist Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), according to police sources.
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 Turkish security forces.
In his remarks, Sahin called on people to stay calm:
"We expect them [Istanbul residents] to help our police and gendarmerie. … We will respond [to such incidents] much more comfortably if they see any suspect people or incidents and share them with us."
Speaking of the recent attacks in the city, he said: "They [terror organizations] are trying to show power but it will come to nothing with the help of God and efforts of our friends [security forces]."
On Thursday night, armed assailants opened fire on car of a state university rector, leaving his private secretary slightly injured.
In a separate incident, three attackers also shot at a police car in the Okmeydani neighborhood, which is connected to Kagithane and Sisli districts on Istanbul’s European side.
Istanbul’s historical district of Fatih was also struck by a suicide bomber in January. The suicide attack killed 11 people -- mostly Germans -- in the city’s Sultanahmet Square, home to the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.
