Turkish security forces killed a Libyan gunman who shot and wounded two people with a pump-action rifle in the courtyard of Istanbul's historic Topkapi Palace on Wednesday, Turkish officials said.
The assailant opened fire around the time the first visitors would normally be arriving at
the lavish palace, home of Ottoman sultans for centuries and one of Istanbul's top tourist draws. He was killed after a one-hour siege.
"The attacker was not a Turkish citizen, he was foreign. A Libyan national born in 1975. He entered Turkey on November 27," Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin told reporters.
He said police had identified the vehicle in which the attacker arrived at the scene.
"The vehicle had a Syrian number plate. Its owner is someone else. But according to initial information the link between them is not very clear," he said. Investigations were continuing, he said.
Istanbul Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu told reporters the gunman had been shot after refusing to surrender. He declined to comment on a possible motive for the attack.