© Umit Bektas/Reuters At least 35 were killed, 40 injured when shooters dressed as Santas attacked a nightclub in Istanbul.
Some 39 people, including 15 foreigners, were killed and 69 injured when at least one gunman reportedly dressed as Santa opened fire in an Istanbul night club. The manhunt for one terror suspect is underway.
Turkey's interior minister, Suleyman Soylu, told Turkish media on Sunday morning that 21 victims have been identified so far, of whom 15 were foreign nationals and five Turkish citizens. Soylu said that the shooter is still at large.
"The search operation for the terrorist is ongoing," the minister said.
The attack took place at the well-known Reina nightclub in the Ortakoy neighborhood, in Istanbul's Besiktas district.
A policeman and a civilian are reported to be among the two known casualties at the nightclub.
There were two attackers involved, according to NTV, but conflicting reports also described a lone gunman.The gunmen were dressed in Santa Claus outfits, wielding assault rifles, Turkish media said.
Comment: President Tayyip Erdogan has dubbed the New Year's Eve shooting spree that left 39 people dead at an Istanbul night club "
dirty games," vowing Turkey will fight to the end against all forms of terrorist attacks. A manhunt for the attacker is still ongoing.
"They are trying to create chaos, demoralize our people, and destabilize our country with abominable attacks which target civilians," Erdogan said in a statement, adding "we will retain our cool-headedness as a nation, standing more closely together, and we will never give ground to such dirty games."
"As a nation, we will fight to the end against not just the armed attacks of terror groups and the forces behind them, but also against their economic, political and social attacks," he promised.
Update (Jan. 1): The death toll has been revised to 39 (69 injured), 21 of whom have been
identified.
Among the foreigners
killed: an 18yo Israeli woman, three Indians, a 26yo Lebanese, a Belgian, a Frenchwoman and her Tunisian husband, three Jordanians, and five Saudis.
The Reina club is described as a fairly
exclusive venue, a "top party haunt of Turkey's elite":
Its clientele includes footballers from the top Turkish sides and stars from the country's much-watched soap operas. Every weekend their attendance at parties features in the gossip and celebrity pullouts in Turkish media.
According to the club owner, Mehmet Kocarslan, he had received a
warning about a possible attack 7-10 days ago:
"The US intelligence warned about the terror attack. Increased security measures were taken here 7 - 10 days ago. So what? That has happened," Kocarslan told the Hurriyet newspaper.
The U.S. denies this, however:
The U.S. Embassy in Ankara said in a statement issued Sunday that "contrary to rumors circulating in social media, the U.S. Government had no information about threats to specific entertainment venues, including the Reina Club."
The White House was quick to express their
condolences and condemn the "savagery" of the attack; Obama "directed his team to offer appropriate assistance to the Turkish authorities, as necessary, and keep him updated as warranted." No group has claimed responsibility at this time. (The PKK denies responsibility.)
The attacker is said by an Istanbul city governor to have used a "
long-range weapon" (later described as a
Kalashnikov). Turkey's PM
denies the attacker was wearing a Santa suit. Witnesses say they heard the attacker(s) speaking Arabic. An eyewitness account from outside the club:
Mehmet Dag, 22, was passing by the club and saw the suspect shoot at a police officer and a bystander. He said the suspect then targeted security guards, gunning them down and entering the club.
"Once he went in, we don't know what happened. There were gun sounds, and after two minutes the sound of an explosion," Dag said.
More eyewitness
accounts:
"We were having fun. All of a sudden people started to run," Sinem Uyanik, who was at the club with her husband at the moment of the attack, told The Hurriyet daily. "My husband said, 'Don't be afraid,' and he jumped on me. People ran over me. My husband was hit in three places."
According to Uyanik, there were at least two gunmen at the club who were shooting randomly at people. "It was so horrible. Someone was shooting. Two people were shooting at gunpoint," she claimed, as cited by Haber 7, adding that a strong smell of gunpowder was felt inside the club. "Then I fainted. When I woke up my husband was in blood. People were [soaked] in blood," she said, adding that she managed to push the people away and reach ambulances and police. In the hours after the attack, her husband, Lutfi Uyanık, was being treated in hospital for his injuries.
A club employee, who was working there as a waiter, said his friend was injured in the attack. The man told Hurriyet that they both managed to avoid death and escape from the club. "I brought my friend [to a hospital], we ran outside in panic...There're a lot of injured people inside. There were 500 to 600 people in the room. I don't know exactly," he said.
Another shocked witness described her making desperate phone calls until the police arrived and evacuated them. She said some people jumped into the sea to escape the shooting. "We watch [reports on terrorist attacks] on TV every day, but it is really bad when it comes to you. How will we live in this country? Bombs will explode, weapons will [be fired]," the witness said.
Turkish football player Sefa Boydas, who was at the club with his girlfriend, said that police "moved in quickly" after the carnage began. "I didn't see who was shooting but heard the gunshots and people fled. Police moved in quickly," he wrote on Twitter, as cited by Reuters. In the moments that followed the first shots, he also managed to save the life of his girlfriend. "My girlfriend was wearing high heels. I lifted her and carried her out on my back," he said.
According to the
Guardian (citing Turkish officials), one of the attackers was
killed, presumably by police. He apparently took a taxi to the club, and police are questioning the driver.
Update (Jan. 2): Daesh terrorist group has
claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Eve, Reuters reports citing the group's statement.
In this statement, Daesh claimed that the perpetrator of the attack was its "soldier."
The manhunt is currently underway.
So we suppose that earlier report of the suspect being killed is false?
According to Turkish media, the killer shot a total of
180 bullets over a period of 7 minutes. Police believe he was a well-trained professional with war experience. He spoke broken Turkish (other reports have him speaking Arabic), wore a green shirt, dark pants, and black boots. He appeared to be around 25 years old, perhaps from East Turkestan. RT adds a few more
details:
Eight individuals thought to have been involved in the nightclub attack were apprehended in Istanbul on Monday, Turkish Daily Sabah reported, citing police. Over the past week, nearly 150 people suspected of having ties to the Islamic State terrorist group have been detained, Turkey's Interior Ministry said, adding that 25 have been formally placed under arrest.
The gunman, who may be from a Central Asian country, is suspected of coming from the same cell responsible for carrying out a deadly gun-and-bomb attack on Istanbul's main airport back in June of last year, according to Turkish Hurriyet newspaper.
Turkish police are now
saying that shooter may be from Uzbekistan or Kyrgizstan:
A citizen of Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan related to the Daesh terrorist group is suspected in the terrorist attack at Reina club in Istanbul, CNN Turk TV channel reported on Monday citing local police services.
The police reportedly arrested and interrogated 63 Daesh militants in different Turkish cities on December 28-31. They obtained information about a possible involvement of a citizen of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan in the attack.
Update: The first images of the shooter have been released:
Update (Jan. 3): As with all major terror attacks, the looney fringe is claiming this one too is a "hoax". No, it isn't. Here are the
pictures from the scene (warning: disturbing images).
According to
press reports, the suspect was staying in a rented apartment in Konya before moving to Istanbul for the attack. One of the people detained after the attack is thought to be his wife, with whom he stayed in Konya with 2 children. Police have apparently made progress by talking with the taxi driver who took him to the club, and whose cell phone the shooter used to make some calls. (It's unclear whether this refers to Mashrapov, who was named as the suspect but who obviously isn't, or the man in the photos above.)
The main suspect was later named as Iakhe Mashrapov. His passport photo was also circulated. However, Kyrgyzstan says Mashrapov is NOT the suspect. He is alive and well in Kyrgyzstan, and has been questioned by Turkish and Kyrgyz
authorities (he doesn't even look like man in the photos above):
The spokesman, Rakhat Suleymanov, said that Mashrapov, a Kyrgyz businessman who lives in the town of Kara-Suu in Kyrgyzstan's southern Osh Province, flew to Bishkek from Istanbul on January 3 using his passport, which is genuine.
Suleymanov said Mashrapov's flight from Istanbul was delayed one hour as Turkish police questioned him before clearing him to depart.
Mashrapov told Kyrgyz Internet news agency Turmush later on January 3 that he had no idea how a picture of his passport was placed on social media.
...
Turkish government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus said on January 2 that officials were close to identifying the gunman and had fingerprints they believed belong to the attacker.
Mashrapov also denied his involvement in an
interview with AKIpress. (He says he only arrived in Istanbul on January 1: "They [Turkish police] explained that I was questioned because I slightly resembled the suspect in the photo. They apologized and let me board my plane," he said.) There's speculation the real culprit may have escaped
to Syria.
Update: Turkish media are
reporting that two foreigners have been arrested at Istanbul's Ataturk airport in connection with the Reina shooting. This brings the total number of people arrested to fourteen (other reports say
sixteen). Police still speculate that the shooter was Central Asian, either from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan or Xinjiang (China).
Update (Jan. 4): The identity of the Istanbul night club attacker has been
established, the Turkey's interior minister has stated.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu made the announcement in an interview with the Anadolu news agency on Wednesday.
Twenty-seven people have now been
detained in connection with the attack.
Update (Jan. 5): After Turkish authorities established the identity of the New Year's eve attacker, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus, in an interview with the
Hurriyet Daily News, has suggested that external intelligence services could be
involved in the terrorist act. Thirty nine people were killed and 69 wounded in the attack.
"I am of the opinion that it's not possible for the perpetrator to have carried out such an attack without any support. It seems like a secret service thing. All these things are being assessed," Kurtulmus told the publication, without speculating which state actor might be involved.
Kurtulmus expressed concern that with support from external intelligence other potential attackers could evade Turkish security radars. "As they are supported by some organizations with intelligence capacity, they can conduct terror acts in the way your security system may not even be able to think of," Kurtulmus said.
Update: The killer of 39 people at an Istanbul nightclub is probably of
Uighur origin, Turkish Deputy PM Veysi Kaynak said. Turkish law enforcement has established his possible location and links, he added.
"The terrorist's identity has been established by security forces and his potential whereabouts have also been determined," Kaynak said speaking to broadcaster A Haber on Thursday.
The attacker is "probably of Uighur origin", he added, according to the Vatan daily.
"There was only one shooter. The act was carried out with one gun ... but there could have been helpers inside," Kaynak also said.
Turkish media suggest that the suspect comes from the Chinese province of Xinjiang and had flown to Turkey from neighboring Kyrgyzstan. According to Reuters' sources, he may have combat experience and could have been trained in Syria.
Special forces detained several people in Istanbul on Thursday, the state-run news agency Anadolu said. While the number of arrests was not disclosed, those detained are also said to be of Uighur origin.
The Uighurs are Turkic-speaking minority in far western China; their diaspora communities can be found in central Asia and Turkey. They mostly preach Islam.
Update (Jan. 8): Turkish police have named their prime suspect: Abdulgadir Masharipov, from Uzbekistan. (Curiously, the man previously identified as a suspect, see above, was named Mashrapov.)
RT reports:
Istanbul Police Department said that Masharipov is of Uzbek origin and is known in terrorist circles as "Abu Muhammed Horasani," according to a number of Turkish news outlets.
...
Masharipov reportedly made his getaway via a taxi. Authorities believe the shooter was and is still being supported by an Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) cell based in the city of Konya. The attacker reportedly met with an IS "emir" named "Yusuf Hoca," who allegedly ordered the New Year massacre, in Konya days before the shooting.
The investigation also believes the IS cell in Konya provided Masharipov with the weapon used in the massacre. It is also suspects that the cell continued to provide logistical support to the terrorist after the Reina attack.
Comment: Party, New Year's Eve...sounds cool and innocent. The concern is the familiarity and fraternizing that biases objectivity.
See also: