Istanbul - Members of a banned leftist group forced their way into Istanbul's central courts building Tuesday and took hostage a prosecutor investigating a death related to anti-government demonstrations in 2013.
The group DHKP-C claimed responsibility and threatened to kill the prosecutor.
It demanded on its Facebook page that police who were responsible for the death of Berkin Elvans confess and that all investigations into demonstrators who protested the boy's death be halted.
Berkin was hit by a tear gas canister during the 2013 protests and fell into a coma. He never regained consciousness and died in March 2014 at the age of 15. There has been no movement in investigations into his death.
The DHKP-C said that if its demands are not met, it will kill the prosecutor. It posted a photograph of the gagged public prosecutor with a gun to his head on its Facebook page.
A three-hour deadline it had set for its demands to be met had run out, but the prosecutor was still being held Tuesday evening in his office.
Berkin's father, Sami Elvan, said on Twitter that he did not want anyone to be hurt.
“I only want just 1/8legal 3/8 proceedings,” he tweeted.
Two people forced their way into the prosecutor's office on the sixth floor of the building, Istanbul Police Chief Selami Altinok said, according to Turkish media. The drama was playing out amid a power outage affecting the entire city.
He said negotiations were being conducted with the hostage takers. Hasan Kilic, a board member of the Istanbul Bar Association, said his organization was also involved in the negotiations.
However, the DHA new agency reported that police commandos had forced their way into the courts building in Istanbul's Caglayan district to end the hostage situation before the DHKP-C's deadline had expired. Shots were heard, it reported.
The 2013 protests were sparked by government plans to develop an Istanbul park.
Sapa-dpa