A worker at a Turkish statistics office in the eastern province of Kars shot dead six people before committing suicide on Wednesday, March 19, in what local media said appeared to have been a revenge attack over a professional dispute, Reuters reports.

Kars Governor Eyup Tepe said the Statistics Institute (TUIK) employee had come to the building and had shot dead six staff including the regional manager with a Glock pistol. One other employee escaped with light injuries.

"Veysi Erim was working as a sociologist ... and was receiving treatment for psychological problems. This horrible incident has no connection with terrorism," Tepe's office said in a statement on its website.

TUIK confirmed that one of its employees had killed six staff before turning the gun on himself but gave no further details. The Hurriyet newspaper said Erim had been involved in a professional dispute before the shooting.

There has been a series of attacks, including shootings at the local offices of political parties, in recent weeks, most of them in Istanbul.