A man carrying a knife attempted to carry out a terror attack on Israel’s embassy in the Turkish capital city of Ankara on Wednesday, rushing at a police officer and shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is Great” in Arabic) before trying to stab him.
He was shot in the leg by local security forces who witnessed the attack. Earlier accounts reported the assailant had been killed, though it quickly became clear that he was only wounded.
In addition to “Allahu akbar”, which has become a popular rallying cry for Islamic terrorists across the world, witnesses reported that the attacker also yelled as he approached the building, “I will change the Middle East!”
A suspect who tried to storm #Israel embassy, a construction worker from Karaman province, is reported to be mentally unstable. pic.twitter.com/zhXxiKsqoy
— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) September 21, 2016
No Israelis were hurt in the incident, said the Foreign Ministry.
The assailant was identified as Osman Nuri Caliskan, 41. He is reported to be “mentally disturbed”, with no known ties to militant or terrorist organizations.
