A gunman killed six people and wounded eight others Monday in Turkey's southern Mersin province, in a shooting spree that began with the murder of his ex-wife before spiralling into a rampage through a roadside restaurant and surrounding area.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed the death toll in a televised address © Mena Today
A gunman killed six people and wounded eight others Monday in Turkey's southern Mersin province, in a shooting spree that began with the murder of his ex-wife before spiralling into a rampage through a roadside restaurant and surrounding area.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed the death toll in a televised address, offering condolences to the victims' families and wishing a swift recovery to the wounded. He gave no further details on the circumstances of the attack.
According to private news agencies DHA and IHA, the 37-year-old suspect — still at large as of Monday evening — shot dead the owner and an employee of a restaurant located some 40 kilometres north-east of Mersin, before wounding several others during his escape.
A shepherd grazing his flock near the restaurant was also among the victims. One wounded employee told agency IHA: "He came in without saying a word. I thought he was reaching for his phone — but he pulled out a gun."
Helicopters were deployed to search for the suspect as ambulances rushed the injured to hospital.
The attack is the latest in a series of deadly shootings to shake Turkey. In April, a 14-year-old opened fire at a school, killing nine children and a teacher. A day earlier, a 19-year-old wounded 16 at another school in the country's south-east.
Following those attacks, Erdogan pledged to tighten gun control legislation. The pledge has yet to translate into action, and according to a Turkish foundation, tens of millions of firearms, most of them illegal, continue to circulate across the country.
By Murat Güneş
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will repeat Turkey's offer to host talks between Russia and Ukraine on a visit to Moscow this week at which he will also discuss Black Sea shipping safety and the South Caucasus, a diplomatic source said on Monday.
Authorities in southern Lebanon warned people displaced by three months of war between Israel and Hezbollah against rushing home on Monday despite a U.S.-Iran deal to end the wider conflict, as Israel said it would not withdraw troops from the south.
Let us call it what it is. The framework agreement on Iran is not a peace deal. It is a capitulation dressed up in diplomatic language, and its most immediate victims are the two countries that have paid the highest price in blood and treasure to confront Iran's aggression: Israel and Lebanon.
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