Erdogan gave the toll in a broadcast statement and asked for “God’s mercy” on those killed, but provided no further details about the incident, which occurred near the city of Mersin.

The Anadolu state news agency and the Sabah daily said the suspect being sought was a 37-year-old man who reportedly shot dead his ex-wife before heading out on a murderous spree.

The DHA and IHA news agencies said the man opened fire in a restaurant, killing its owner and an employee, before fleeing and shooting dead two other men — one of them a shepherd watching his animals near the restaurant, and the other a truck driver.

The shooting occurred near Tarsus, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of Mersin, prompting a widespread police manhunt involving helicopters to locate the shooter.

“He came in without a word… We thought he was getting his telephone out, but he brought out a pistol, IHA quoted a restaurant employee, Mehmet Han Topal, who was wounded in the leg.

“I got down. He fired at me,” he said.

The violence came a month after two shooting attacks by teenagers rocked Turkey.

In the first incident, 16 people were injured, while the second attack claimed 10 lives, most of them young schoolchildren.

According to a Turkish NGO, there are tens of millions of firearms held by citizens, most of them without permits.