ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — One of the shooters at the US Embassy in Ankara has told police that he was influenced by recent remarks by the US President Donald Trump on Turkey, Turkish media has reported.
"The dollar rate went up recently. The statements by the US president bothered us, therefore we did so. No one has directed or instructed me. I decided to do something like this because I was angered by recent developments," Ahmet Celikten, one of the confessed shooters told police, the pro-government Aksam news agency has reported on Thursday.
He has denied any links to terrorist organizations, added Aksam. When people are convicted of having relations to terrorist organizations in Turkey, it is typically for “ties” to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the Gulen Movement or ISIS.
Osman Gundas is the name of the other shooter who has admitted his involvement in the incident.
Pro-government media have claimed that Gundas is a Gulenist which is led by the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen who Ankara believes is the mastermind of the failed 2016 military coup in Turkey. He has denied the claim.
Gundas shared a sermon of Gulen in 2014 and then showed his support for a group of Holy Quran teachers in February 2016. Their Quran learning centre was shut by the government before the coup. The pro-government media have been using these Facebook posts as “proof” of their claim.
Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper reported on Wednesday that there is no evidence to prove that these shooters were directed by a third person according to a security source.
Gunshots were fired at the US Embassy in Ankara at around 5 a.m. on Monday morning, hitting a guard booth. There were no casualties.
US Embassy Spokesman David Gainer later thanked police for their “rapid response” and confirmed that no injuries.
