Turkish police freed seven hostages—six men and one woman—after 10 hours at a Procter & Gamble factory in Gebze, in northwestern Turkey.
The gunman, who was detained, had demanded a ceasefire in Gaza, according to Seddar Yavuz, governor of the Kocaeli province. The governor also said that the attacker had two guns and a “device.”
“Turkish media had published an image of the suspect inside the factory wearing what appeared to be a rudimentary explosives belt and holding a handgun,” the Associated Press reported.
“The photograph of the suspect carried in the Turkish media shows him with a black-and-white Arabic headscarf covering his face,” the AP added. “He is standing next to a graffitied wall showing the Turkish and Palestinian flags with the slogan ‘The gates will open. Either musalla or death for Gaza.’ A musalla is an open prayer area for Muslims, usually used for funeral rites.”
“The hostages were rescued safely and the person who committed the action was detained and a large-scale investigation was launched into the incident,” Yavuz’s office stated, per the state-run Anadolu Agency.
“The fact that no one was harmed is our greatest relief,” a P&G spokesman said.
