Seven people were released unharmed after being held hostage for nearly 10 hours by a gunman who stormed an American consumer goods factory in western Turkey on Thursday, according to local media reports.
The armed man surrendered and the seven hostages were freed at the factory in the Kocaeli province west of Istanbul after a 9 1/2-hour ordeal, the Cumhuriyet newspaper and other Turkish media reported late Thursday.
The motive for the attack was not immediately clear. The Demirören News Agency reported that the gunman was protesting the ongoing war in Gaza. The United States is a close ally of Israel.
Turkish media outlets published photos showing the man inside the factory. He was seen standing in front of a wall that was painted with the Turkish and Palestinian flags.
