Turkish Leftist Radicals Claim Responsibility for Attack on Istanbul Police

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, two women threw grenades at a police station in Istanbul's Bayrampasa district and opened fire on policemen. The attackers attempted to escape and were blocked inside a neighboring building. Police cordoned off the area and negotiated with the women to get them to give up their arms for half an hour, after which special forces stormed the building, killing both women. Two police officers were injured in the operation.

"Greetings to you, our two brave female liberation fighters who have taken the people's liberation fight on their shoulders," the statement read as quoted by the local Today's Zaman newspaper.

DHKP-C is a Marxist-Leninist party created in 1978. The party strongly opposes US and NATO influence on Turkish politics and has been notorious for a number of suicide bombings. In March 2015, DHKP-C took Kiraz hostage in the courthouse and held him for about six hours. The two terrorists were killed in the rescue operation. The prosecutor, who was shot several times by the gunmen, died in a hospital.

In 2013, DHKP-C attacked the US embassy in Ankara, and left two people — the bomber and the Turkish guard — dead.