Gunman kills six in southern Türkiye as police launch massive manhunt

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — A gunman killed six people and wounded eight others in southern Türkiye on Monday in a series of shootings that triggered a large-scale police manhunt near the Mediterranean city of Mersin, according to Turkish authorities and local media reports.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed the death toll in a televised statement, expressing condolences to the victims’ families and asking for “God’s mercy” on those killed. He did not provide further details regarding the motive or identity of the attacker.

Turkish media outlets, including the state-run Anadolu Agency and the Sabah newspaper, reported that authorities were searching for a 37-year-old suspect believed to have begun the attack by killing his ex-wife before embarking on a deadly shooting spree in the rural outskirts of Tarsus, roughly 40 kilometers northeast of Mersin.

According to the DHA and IHA news agencies, the suspect later entered a restaurant and opened fire, killing the owner and an employee. He then reportedly fled the scene and fatally shot two more men, including a shepherd tending animals near the restaurant and a truck driver traveling through the area.

Witnesses described scenes of panic and confusion during the attack.

“He came in without a word,” restaurant employee Mehmet Han Topal, who was wounded in the leg, told IHA. “We thought he was taking out his telephone, but he pulled out a pistol. I got down. He fired at me.”

Security forces launched an extensive operation involving helicopters, roadblocks, and special police units to locate the suspect, who remained at large late Monday.

The killings come amid growing public concern over gun violence in Türkiye, where experts and civil society groups have repeatedly warned about the widespread circulation of unlicensed firearms.

The latest attack occurred just one month after two separate shootings carried out by teenagers shocked the country. In one incident, 16 people were injured, while another attack left 10 people dead, most of them schoolchildren, intensifying debate over access to weapons and public security.

Türkiye has witnessed several high-profile mass shootings and armed attacks in recent years. In 2017, a gunman linked to the Islamic State group killed 39 people at Istanbul’s Reina nightclub during New Year celebrations, one of the deadliest terror attacks in the country’s modern history.

In another major incident in 2022, a gunman opened fire at a tea house in the Black Sea province of Giresun following a personal dispute, killing multiple people before being detained.

Domestic violence-related killings involving firearms have also remained a persistent issue in Türkiye. Women’s rights groups have frequently criticized authorities for failing to adequately protect women threatened by former spouses or partners despite restraining orders and repeated complaints.

According to Turkish non-governmental organizations monitoring armed violence, civilians in Türkiye possess tens of millions of firearms, many of them unregistered or illegally obtained.

Rights advocates and security analysts say the prevalence of such weapons has contributed to a steady rise in deadly personal disputes, family-related shootings, and mass casualty attacks across the country in recent years.