It also said the suspect appeared to be “mentally unstable” and so far no links were found that he belonged to any organization.
Advertisement
Turkey faces multiple security threats, including Islamic State militants blamed for bombings in Istanbul and elsewhere, and Kurdish militants following the resumption of a three-decade insurgency in the mainly Kurdish southeast previous year.
“A man approached the embassy with a knife and was shot by a local guard”.
Embassy staff reportedly had been sent to the building’s bomb shelter as a security measure.
A suspicious package near the embassy was being examined, CNN Turk said.
The two countries were once close allies but tensions peaked in 2010 after Israeli commandos stormed an aid ship trying to breach Israel’s blockade of Gaza.
No-one at the embassy was hurt, Israeli officials say. He was warned to stop by a police officer who fired near his legs. Security forces have reportedly “neutralized” one of two assailants, it added.
Assailant shouted “Allahu Akbar” outside before he was shot in leg.
The British embassy in Ankara was closed on Friday over security concerns.
Turkey has suffered a number of deadly terrorist attacks in recent weeks and months.
In March three Israeli’s were killed in a suicide bombing on a main thoroughfare in central Istanbul.
Advertisement
Israel and Turkey are working to fix years of hard relations.
