Deputy mayor of Istanbul district shot dead in office

Unidentified assailants enter Cemil Candas’s office in Sisli city hall and shoot opposition party politician in the head

A senior official working for Istanbul’s Sisli district city hall died Monday after two gunmen walked into his office and shot him in the head.

It was not immediately clear if the incident was related to the failed coup that has been roiling Turkey for the past several days.

Deputy Mayor in charge of Development Cemil Candas was rushed to a nearby hospital, but succumbed to his injuries afterwards.

Police detained the two gunmen, who were taken out by the rear entrance.

Various reports inaccurately stated that Candas was Jewish. Sisli is home to some of Istanbul’s remaining Jews, as well as the Jewish newspaper and the Ottoman-Turkish Sephardic Culture Research Center.

Cemil Candas

The Sisli municipality is run by the opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP. The CHP condemned Friday’s attempted coup.

The incident came after a shooting outside an Ankara courthouse and a reported bomb threat at the Turkish parliament, both on Monday, as the country remained gripped by violence.

Authorities have not established direct links between the spate of violent incidents and the coup attempt.