Marxist Group Attacks US Consulate in Istanbul

Banned Group Had Attacked US Embassy in 2013

With plenty of chaos already ongoing in Turkey, and seemingly everyone already fighting everyone, the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), a banned Marxist organization, has jumped in to complicate things further, attacking the US Consulate in Istanbul.

Two women from the DHKP-C opened fire on the consulate earlier today, sparking a round of gunbattles with police and security at the site. One of them was captured, and identified as 51-year-old Hatice Asik. The other woman is still at large.

The DHKP-C has a history of carrying out such attacks. In February of 2013 they carried out a suicide bombing at the US Embassy in Ankara, and earlier this year they blew up an Istanbul police station. The group also assassinated two US soldiers during the 1991 Iraq War.

As well as being a Marxist-Leninist group, the DHKP-C is said to recruit primarily from Turkey’s Alevi minority. The group’s attacks have mostly been around Turkish and NATO security services, and it is listed as a terrorist organization in Turkey, the US, and the European Union.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.