Turkish police shot tractor driver trying to stage a protest at Israeli embassy

45-year-old driver told police in his initial statement that he planned to drive to the Israeli embassy in the Turkish capital and stage a protest.

Turkish police shot a tractor driver in the leg after he refused to stop his vehicle and crashed into cars in central Ankara on Tuesday, state-owned Anadolu news agency reported.

It said the 45-year-old driver told police in his initial statement that he planned to drive to the Israeli embassy in the Turkish capital and stage a protest.

The report could not immediately be confirmed. An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he believed the incident was not linked to the Israeli mission.

"To the best of our knowledge, this has nothing to do with the embassy. He was on his way to demonstrate outside a (Turkish) government ministry. The incident happened near the ambassador's residence, and not the embassy."