"Knife-wielding man" shot, wounded outside Israeli mission in Ankara

A "knife-wielding" man was shot and wounded outside the Israeli mission in Ankara on Wednesday, but no one was hurt among the embassy staff.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has confirmed that a local security guard shot and wounded "a knife-wielding man" near the Israeli mission and that all embassy staff are safe.

"He was shot before reaching the embassy," the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Security has been beefed up around the embassy, a Xinhua reporter at the scene said.

Dogan News Agency said the attacker was heard shouting "I will change the Middle East."

The Ankara Governor's Office said the attacker was mentally unstable and that no link with any organization was identified, CNN Turk reported, adding that a suspicious package near the Israeli embassy was being examined.

The attacker was identified as Osman Nuri Caliskan, who was born in 1978.

Some reports said Caliskan is a construction worker from the central Anatolian province of Konya.

(APD)