Turkey on Wednesday said it had identified the gunman who slaughtered 39 people in an Istanbul nightclub –but the country’s foreign minister wouldn’t name the killer, who continued to elude the nation’s dragnet.
(FOX)- Turkish media has twice published incorrect names or pictures of a possible suspect in the days since the early Sunday attack at Reina, which could be contributing to the government’s cautious approach this time.
“The identity of the person who carried out the attack on the Reina nightclub has been established,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told state-run news agency Anadolu in a live televised interview.
Turkish police, meanwhile, detained at least five suspected ISIS militants believed to be linked to the attack during an operation in the Aegean port city of Izmir, Anadolu reported.
ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, which also wounded nearly 70 people. Of those killed, 27 were foreigners, many from the Middle East. ISIS said a “soldier of the caliphate” had carried out the mass shooting to avenge Turkish military operations against the terror group in northern Syria.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the attack aimed to set Turks against each other and deepen fault lines.
Erdogan made the comments during a live speech from Ankara, the first time he had publicly addressed the nation since the attack.