The Istanbul Justice Palace sits in the Çağlayan neighborhood in the Şişli district, on the European side of Istanbul. It is Turkey's largest courthouse complex — a vast structure handling the enormous caseload of a city of fifteen million people. Courts at all levels operate within its walls, from local civil cases to high-profile criminal proceedings. The building's sheer scale means it functions almost like a city within the city: attorneys, plaintiffs, witnesses, clerks, police officers, and ordinary citizens pass through its gates in great numbers every day. Gate C, the entrance targeted on 6 February 2024, was one of several security checkpoints where that daily life briefly paused for bag searches and identity checks.

Turkish authorities identified the two attackers as Pınar Birkoç and Emrah Yayla, and attributed the attack to the DHKP/C — the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front — a far-left organization designated as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union. The attackers had arrived at the courthouse by public transportation. When stopped at the security checkpoint, they deployed pepper spray before opening fire. Security forces returned fire and killed both. A civilian bystander died in the confrontation. Three police officers were among the six people hospitalized. In the hours that followed, police raided 25 locations across the city and detained 40 suspects. Plastic handcuffs, 48 shell casings, and documents were recovered from the scene.

Turkey's Minister of Justice, Yılmaz Tunç, announced that a comprehensive investigation had been launched immediately following the attack. The Radio and Television Supreme Council imposed a broadcast ban on coverage of the incident — a measure authorities have employed following several recent attacks in Turkey. Gate C of the Palace of Justice was closed and the surrounding area placed under expanded security cordons. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya addressed the press directly, outlining the scope of the raids and detentions. The courthouse itself remained operational in the days that followed, its thousands of daily visitors passing through additional layers of security.

Istanbul has navigated many moments of sudden violence in recent decades. The Çağlayan attack arrived on the same date — 6 February — that, one year earlier, had seen catastrophic earthquakes strike southeastern Turkey, a coincidence that added a layer of somber significance for many residents. The courthouse attack underscored both the continued threat facing Turkish institutions and the resilience with which Istanbul's systems — legal, civic, security — have repeatedly resumed their work. The civilian who died on that February morning, killed in a public building that exists to serve justice, represented the cost that ordinary people can pay in an instant, through no involvement of their own. The names of those killed and wounded are the human truth behind the institutional language of investigations, press conferences, and broadcast bans.