AFP Istanbul

Istanbul

Updated Thursday, February 1, 2024-18:39

An individual who claims to "act for Gaza"

is holding several employees

of a factory of the American group Procter & Gamble (P&G) on the outskirts of Istanbul, the Turkish police announced on Thursday. The armed force indicated that it was not clear how many people were held at the site, east of Turkey's largest city, and specified that the individual justified his action as a

denunciation of Israeli military operations in Gaza

.

"The workers were evacuated from the P&G factory in Gebze; seven workers remain hostage. The boss is responsible for their safety," wrote the Umut-Sen union in a message posted on the social network P&G stated that they are "collaborating with local authorities to resolve this urgent safety situation." A photograph taken by Turkish media, which AFP was unable to authenticate, shows a man with his face partially covered by a Palestinian kufiya,

with explosives tied with duct tape

around his torso and holding what appears to be a small pistol in his hand. right hand.

On a wall behind him, beneath two Turkish and Palestinian flags, "For Gaza" was written in red. The local press also published images showing police cars blocking access to the Procter & Gamble factory, where about 500 people work in various shifts.

The Habertürk television station indicated that several relatives of the hostages were present near the scene. Turkish President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

on several occasions denounced the United States' support for Israel, which he described as a "terrorist" and "genocidal" state for its war in the Gaza Strip against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

The conflict was sparked by the bloody Oct. 7 attack by Hamas fighters, which

killed about 1,140 people in Israel,

mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli data. They also kidnapped about 250 people. Israel claims that 132 are still being held in Gaza, of which 29 are believed to have died.

In response, Israel launched an offensive that has left more than 27,000 dead in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas Health Ministry. Calls to boycott American products, such as Coca-Cola or Starbucks coffee shops, have also proliferated in Turkey since the beginning of the conflict.

In early November, Turkish police had to disperse a pro-Palestinian rally in front of a military base housing US forces with tear gas, hours before a visit to Ankara by the head of US diplomacy,

Antony Blinken

. In the first days of the war, numerous protesters gathered in front of the United States embassy in Ankara and its consulate in Istanbul. Demonstrations in support of the Palestinians are frequently organized in these two cities.