Two Turkish men saved two women and one police officer’s life during Monday’s terrorist attack that left at least five people dead in the Austrian capital, while barely escaping death after being shot by one of the gunmen, as reported by the Anadolu Agency (AA).
Recep Tayyip Gültekin said he was with his friend Mikail Özer in Vienna’s city center when they heard gunshots. He said they headed in the direction of the commotion and saw a gunman shooting a civilian passerby. Gültekin helped the injured woman.
“After I carried the woman to a nearby restaurant, the terrorist pointed his gun at me,” he recalled. He threw himself to the ground to avoid being shot by the gunman, who was carrying a long-barrel gun, but was wounded, he said. “We got into my friend’s car and went to the nearest police station to report the incident.”
Gültekin said that later, they saw a police officer who had been wounded in the clash. Noting that medical teams could not approach the scene due to the conflict, Gültekin and his friend carried the officer to an ambulance. They also helped an elderly woman they encountered at the scene move to a safe location, he said.
The 20-year-old gunman shot dead in the Vienna attacks on Monday was armed with an assault rifle and was wearing a fake explosive belt. He was born and raised in the city and was known to domestic intelligence because he was one of 90 Austrian who wanted to travel to Syria, a newspaper editor said on Tuesday. Kurtin S. had “Albanian roots,” but his parents were originally from North Macedonia, the editor of the weekly Falter newspaper Florian Klenk said on Twitter, without giving details of the source for that information. Police thought he was not capable of planning an attack in Vienna, Klenk added.
Some 1,000 police officers have been deployed across Vienna in the wake of the shootings, which began late Monday outside the city’s main synagogue. Police said there were “suspects armed with rifles in six different locations” across the city.
The attack drew swift condemnation and assurances of support. Turkish officials expressed solidarity with Austria in the aftermath of the deadly terrorist attack. “Terrorism is the common enemy of all humanity. A sincere international cooperation is required against this scourge,” Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Twitter.
In a separate statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry strongly condemned yesterday’s deadly terrorist attack in the Austrian capital. “We strongly condemn this attack, extend our condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and wish a speedy recovery to the wounded,” the ministry said in a statement. “As a country that has been fighting against all sorts of terrorism for decades, Turkey stands in solidarity with the Austrian people,” it said.
Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın also condemned the attack and expressed solidarity with Austria. “We strongly condemn the terrorist attack in Vienna. We express our condolences for those who lost their lives in this cowardly attack and wish a quick recovery for the injured. We stand in solidarity with Austria. We will continue to fight against all forms of terrorism,” Kalın wrote on Twitter.
Communications Director Fahrettin Altun also denounced the attack. “Turkey stands with Austria and against terrorism. We share your pain,” Altun wrote on Twitter.
