ISTANBUL, Turkey, March 31 (UPI) -- A Turkish prosecutor taken hostage by members of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front died Tuesday after being shot multiple times.
The president told state-run news agency Anadolu Agency prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the head and body after the eight-hour standoff came to an end.
Kiraz died at the hospital, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
Two hostage takers were killed in a firefight with police.
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"We conducted negotiations for eight hours," Istanbul police chief Selami Altinok said. "Our security forces launched the operation after gunshots were heard from the prosecutor's room while the militants were speaking on the phone with authorities during the negotiations."
Kiraz was investigating the death of Berkin Elvan, who was in a coma for nine months after he was struck by a teargas canister fired by police during the Gezi Park protests of 2013. Berkin died on March 11, 2014.
Berkin's father, Salim Elvan, told Turkish media he did not want the prosecutor harmed. Gunfire was heard at the courthouse where Kiraz was taken hostage.
"My son is dead, I don't want any others to die. Let him go," he said.
The Revolutionary People's Liberation Party–Front, also known as DHKP-C, was founded in 1978. The group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at the U.S. embassy in Istanbul in 2014 and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Turkey.
Armed men, who apparently belong to the group, threatened to kill Kiraz if the officer who shot the canister at Berkin was not arrested. A deadline was set to 3:35 p.m. local time for their demands to be met. Demands include that the officer who shot Berkin publicly confess his guilt and that he be tried in a people's court.
In an image circulated on social media accounts, Kiraz, was seen with a gun pointed to his head and his mouth taped shut.
