ISTANBUL: An assailant on Thursday took people hostage at a plant owned by US consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble near Istanbul in protest over the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.

A union representing workers at the sprawling complex said the assailant was holding seven people, adding that the rest of the plant`s workers had been released.

A police spokesman could not confirm the figure, and the US embassy in Ankara referred all queries to Turkish officials.

`Earlier today, we evacuated our Gebze facility and are working with local authorities to resolve an urgent security situation,` P&G said in a statement, adding that it had no information about the assailant`s motives.

`The safety of P&G people and our partners is our top priority,` the Cincinnati, Ohio based company added.

The private DHA news agency published a photo widely circulated online of the alleged assailant holding a gun and what appeared to be a suicide vest strapped to his chest.

The man was standing next to a drawing of the Palestinian flag and the words `the door will be opened for Gaza` painted on the wall in red. `It is true,` the police spokesman said when asked to confirmed media reports that the attack was linked to Gaza.

Haberturk television reported that police had established contact with the assailant and were attempting to negotiate the hostages`release.

Footage from the scene showed police setting up a cordon around the sprawling plant, and fire trucks and ambulances rushing in.

Erdogan criticism Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has emerged as one of the Muslim world`s harshest critics of Israel for the massive toll of its campaign against Hamas militants. He has branded Israel a terrorist state and compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.

Erdogan has also accused the United States of supporting `genocide` in Gaza. Erdogan`s comments reflect widespread anger across the predominantly Muslim but officially secular country at the United States for its traditional support for Israel.-AFP