Gunman opens fire at Starbucks coffee shop in southern Turkey ‘to protest Israel’
A gunman opened fire with a shotgun at a crowded Starbucks coffee shop late yesterday in Çukurova, Adana, purportedly in protest against Israel.
Eyewitnesses report that the assailant vocalized his motives before the attack, shouting, "Children are bleeding in Palestine. Get out of this place," according to Akdeniz Gerçek, a local news outlet. No one was injured in the shooting.
The attacker was apprehended by a plain clothes police officer who was coincidentally at the scene, according to the report.
Terrified customers sought refuge in restrooms and other enclosed spaces as they attempted to shield themselves during the shotgun attack.
Following the incident, a police team was dispatched to the location and took the attacker in custody, the Governor's Office of Adana said in a written statement. The suspect was identified with the initials O.G., a 35-year-old male. An investigation into the incident is underway.
Starbucks has found itself at the center of anti-Israel protests carried out by pro-government and Islamist groups in Turkey since the start of the Gaza war on October 7.
Such protests have been carried out in several cities across the country, including Ankara, the capital, and İstanbul, ccasionally resulting in harassment of the customers in the coffee shops. Today's incident marks an escalation, being the first armed assault in the context of these protests.
While government officials have refrained from openly endorsing these protests, they have chosen to maintain silence on the matter.
Protesters target Starbucks in Diyarbakır over alleged 'Israeli ties'
Several other well-known brands, such as McDonald's, Burger King, Coca-Cola and Carrefour, have also been the target of online boycott campaigns in Turkey.
Headquarters of the implicated brands in the country have denied allegations of supporting Israel or having financial ties with the Israeli government. Notably, Starbucks and Coca-Cola are absent from the list of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, organized by Palestinians to boycott Israeli products.
Starbucks’ operations in the region of Middle East and North Africa is under the ownership of the Quwait-based Alshaya Group. It has 663 coffee shops in Turkey and none in Israel.
While the Turkish government has strongly condemned Israel for the civilian deaths in Gaza, it has refrained from cutting diplomatic and economic ties with it. (VK)