Soldier shot in front of Istanbul's Dolmabahçe Palace

[Jigs]

Friday, January 28, 2011
ISTANBUL - Daily News with wires

A soldier on guard duty at Istanbul's Dolmabahçe Palace was shot and wounded early Friday morning, Turkish media reported.

Doğan news agency, or DHA, reported that witnesses claimed they heard six or seven gunshots around 6:30 a.m. No other details about the shooting were released.

Paramedics and police were dispatched to Dolmabahçe Palace immediately after the shooting. Police first cordoned off the area around the guard post and then closed down the sidewalk to expand their investigation.

The soldier, whose identity was not revealed, was taken to Gümüşsuyu Military Hospital. He was shot in the shoulder but had no life-threatening injuries, Anatolia news agency reported.

A large-scale investigation was launched into the shooting.

Dolmabahçe Palace

Dolmabahçe Palace, completed in 1856 and now a museum, is one of Istanbul's main tourist attractions.

It first served as the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire and was home to six sultans up until 1922. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, spent his last days in Dolmabahçe, where he died on Nov. 10, 1938.

 

[damm1t]

yes i have seen it on tv news, but sounded suspicious to me.. news said that the soldier just got out of jail.. a problematic person.. as i know, army doesnt let such people to keep guard with weapons..

 

[BelligerentPacifist]

Must've been quite traumatic for the tourists around. I wouldn't have bargained for this spectacle in my dolmabahçe sarayi ticket!

 

[Cerian]

Must've been quite traumatic for the tourists around. I wouldn't have bargained for this spectacle in my dolmabahçe sarayi ticket!

It happened 6 o'clock in the morning, no one would be around at that time. I hope our soldier will recover quickly.