Istanbul suspect in grim selfie video
Print Edition
TURKISH state media yesterday aired new footage of a man believed to be the gunman who killed 39 people at a nightclub, showing a grim selfie video of the suspect as he circles Istanbul’s most famous square.
The camera never leaves the man’s unsmiling face as he walks through Taksim square, one of Istanbul’s prime tourist spots, during the 44-second video broadcast on state-run Anadolu television and other media.
It wasn’t immediately clear if it was filmed before or after the New Year massacre at the Reina nightclub, or how the footage was obtained. The gunman, who hasn’t been publicly identified, is still at large.
The Islamic State group has claimed the attack, saying a “soldier of the caliphate” carried out the mass shooting to avenge Turkish military operations against IS in northern Syria.
Layan Nasser, an 18-year-old Arab Israeli dental assistant who had traveled to Istanbul to celebrate the New Year with friends, was among the dead. Thousands attended the teenager’s funeral in the Israeli city of Tira yesterday.
“She had dreams to work, to progress, to study, to raise a family, but unfortunately the terror put an end to her dreams,” Tira Mayor Mamoun Abd El Hai said.
At least 14 people have been detained in connection with the attack. Two foreigners were detained at Ataturk airport’s international terminal yesterday after police checked their cell phones and luggage, according to Anadolu.
Hurriyet newspaper said that a woman identified by Turkish media as the wife of the massacre suspect has told police she didn’t know her husband was an IS member.
The woman was detained in the central town of Konya as part of the investigation. Neither she nor her husband has been identified by name.
Hurriyet said the woman said she learned about the attack on television.
Media reports say the gunman flew to Istanbul from Kyrgyzstan with his wife and children on November 20. From there, they drove to the Turkish capital, Ankara, before arriving in Konya on November 22.
The family rented a studio in Konya, paying three months rent upfront. The gunman told the real estate agent he was in Konya to look for work, according to the report.
Hurriyet said the gunman returned to Istanbul on December 29.
On Monday, several media outlets, citing security sources, said the man was believed to be from Central Asia and may have been part of the cell that staged a June attack on Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport that killed 45 people.
A Kyrgyz passport circulated on Turkish media but police said it did not belong to the gunman.
The nightclub assailant, armed with a long-barreled weapon, killed a policeman and a civilian in the early hours of 2017 outside the club before opening fire on the estimated 600 people inside.
The establishment is frequented by local celebrities, including singers, actors and athletes. Most of the dead were foreign tourists.
Turkey’s interior minister told parliament yesterday that authorities thwarted a total of 339 possible attacks in 2016, including 313 by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and 22 by Islamic State.
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