{"id":553,"date":"2011-11-30T05:21:20","date_gmt":"2011-11-30T10:21:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dinkel.us\/?p=553"},"modified":"2012-05-02T09:36:26","modified_gmt":"2012-05-02T13:36:26","slug":"gunfire-incident-at-topkavi-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dinkel.us\/?p=553","title":{"rendered":"Gunfire Incident at Topkapi Palace"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Police stationed on the walls of Topkapi Palace<\/p><\/div>\n

Because I missed an opportunity to visit the Archaeological Museum yesterday, I decided to visit this morning before I went to the airport.\u00a0 My alarm did not go off and I woke up 40 minutes late.\u00a0 I also had little Turkish Lira left so I had to visit a money exchange before heading over to the museum.\u00a0 As I was walking towards the museum, a fleet of police and ambulance went streaming by.\u00a0 As I walked past the Hagia Sophia to turn up Bab-I Hamayun street towards the Topkapi Palace (the Archaeological Museum is next to the Palace), I saw a medium sized crowd gathered and no one was proceeding up the street.\u00a0 The large gate to the Topkapi grounds was closed.\u00a0 Police cars and ambulances lined the street.\u00a0 After a few minutes, I heard rifle fire followed by a brief machine gun round.<\/p>\n

Initially the police seemed a bit disorganized and allowed me and others to proceed up the street towards Topkapi and I got as close as 200 yards away.\u00a0 Don’t ask me why I wanted to get closer but I think I was just dumbfounded that something like this was happening.\u00a0 I shot some photos and videos as I walked toward Topkapi.\u00a0 Soon the police were pushing everyone back toward the corner of Ayasofya and Bab-I Hamayun streets.<\/p>\n

I stationed myself on the corner as I watched waves of police, ambulances and armored cars go by.\u00a0 Gunfire continued the entire hour I stood on the corner.<\/p>\n

About 40 minutes into the incident, the media started arriving with local media on the scene first followed by CNN Turkey and CNBC.<\/p>\n

I finally decided to head back to the hotel after an hour or so as gunfire still rang out.\u00a0 The walk back to the hotel took about 20 minutes and when I arrived, the receptionist told me that they had apprehended the gunman and that he had wounded two people.\u00a0 I later learned on an Internet news story that the gunmen was shot dead.<\/p>\n

I guess I have my alarm issues and lack of money to thank otherwise I could have been right in the middle of the mess.<\/p>\n

And I though my last day would be uneventful.\u00a0 More photos from the scene:<\/p>\n