Gunman fires blank rounds in Turk PM's building

A gunman entered the building housing the Turkish prime minister's office in Ankara on Monday as ministers convened there for a cabinet meeting and fired three blank rounds into the air, officials from the premier's office said.

Security staff arrested the man, who has previous criminal convictions and was known to the security services, the officials said. There were no reports of casualties.

The man was identified as 34-year-old Nuri Baskapan, who was known for writing letters to various officials about his personal circumstances and had attempted incidents "similar" to Monday's shooting, they said.

Turkish media outside the building at the time of the incident reported the sound of gunfire shortly after Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his ministers began their weekly cabinet meeting. The meeting continued after the incident.

No further details were available and there was no word on the gunman's motive.

 

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