Turkey: Mentally unstable man wielding knife shot outside Israeli embassy

Turkish police shot and wounded a 41-year-old man outside the Israeli embassy in Ankara after he chanted slogans and wielded a knife on Wednesday, the Ankara governor's office said in a statement.

The attacker, who appeared to be mentally unstable, ignored a police warning to stop, the governor's office said. No links to any organisation or criminal records have been found for the man, it said.

"The staff is safe. The attacker was wounded before he reached the embassy," the spokesman said in a text message. "The assailant was shot and wounded by a local security man."

Turkish police at the scene said the assailant shouted "Allahu Akbar" outside before he was shot in the leg. Police were examining his bag but had so far not exploded it, a Reuters cameraman at the scene said. The area outside the embassy had been cordoned off.

Footage of the incident has emerged on social media: 

Ankara israil B.elciligi onunde caddede yatan adam Israil'i allahuekber diye protesto ediyo pic.twitter.com/MWreHWI6qR

— kara korsan (@herongoruntusu) September 21, 2016

Broadcaster CNN Turk said the assailant had been shot in the leg outside the embassy after attempting a stabbing attack. It said the attacker was not mentally stable.

First footage from the scene at Israel embassy in #Turkey capital, Ankara pic.twitter.com/N3gR4ggVDo

— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) September 21, 2016

It was not immediately clear if there was a second would-be assailant, but Turkish media reports had initially suggested that there had been two attackers. Turkish media earlier reported that the man had been killed, but then later said he was "neutralised and injured".

Turkey faces multiple security threats, including from Islamic State (ISIS) militants, who have been blamed for bombings in Istanbul and elsewhere, and from Kurdish militants, following the resumption of a three-decade insurgency in the mainly Kurdish southeast in 2015.