Militant Who Attacked US Consulate İn Istanbul Was Freed From Jail Last Month

A far-leftist militant who participated in an armed attack on the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul on Aug. 10 was released from prison only 33 days ago, Turkish media has reported.

Hatice Aşık, a female militant of the outlawed far-leftist Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), was detained after being wounded in a clash with police near the consulate building in Istanbul's Sarıyer district.

Aşık had spent three years in jail but was released a month ago, on July 8, pending the verdict in a trial in which she was a suspect. Citing police sources, the same agency reported that Aşık had been designated as a potential suicide bomber by the far-left group.

Photos of Aşık had been distributed to security units throughout the country after it was claimed that she planned to commit a suicide attack on the Justice Ministry in September this year.

Aşık was being tried for her alleged involvement in a bomb attack on a police station in Istanbul's Yenibosna district in 2012.

She was accused of attempted murder, wilfully aiding the DHKP-C, and "attempting to change the constitutional order." She was one of six suspects being tried. - Istanbul