Suspect in Istanbul Nightclub Attack Confesses, Officials Say
The Uzbek man who was taken into custody on Monday and is believed to be the gunman who carried out an attack at an upscale Istanbul nightclub, killing 39 people early on New Year’s Day, has confessed, the Turkish authorities said on Tuesday.
The suspect, identified as Abdulgadir Masharipov, an Uzbek citizen born in 1983, received help in the attack, done “in the name of ISIS,” Vasip Sahin, the governor of Istanbul, said at a news conference, referring to the Islamic State militant group, which claimed responsibility for the rampage.
“No one will get away with what they have done,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said from his office in Ankara, the capital.
Mr. Masharipov, whose arrest was confirmed by Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, was detained Monday night after the police raided a residence in the Esenyurt district of Istanbul, which is home to a large number of migrants from former Soviet states in Central Asia.
He was arrested with four others, an Iraqi man and three women from countries including Egypt and another country on the African continent, the governor said.
Turkish officials said that the investigation into the New Year’s attack had uncovered a network of extremists from former Soviet states. And after the attack at Istanbul’s main international airport in June, which left scores dead, the three suicide bombers were identified by the Turkish authorities as citizens of Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Uzbekistan.
Turkish news organizations released photographs of the nightclub attack suspect, taken while he was in custody and showing bruises and blood on his face. But Mr. Sahin said that Mr. Masharipov had not opened fire when confronted by the police, and that officers had not used weapons while arresting him.
“He admitted his crime,” Mr. Sahin said, adding that the suspect had been trained in Afghanistan and speaks four languages. “His fingerprints matched,” the governor said, although he did not elaborate.
Mr. Sahin said the interrogation, which he described as “very new,” was continuing but that more would be learned about who had helped Mr. Masharipov and how.
Mr. Masharipov, who used the alias Abu Mohammed Khorasani Abdulqavi, entered Turkey illegally in January 2016 “from the eastern border,” the governor said.
Mr. Sahin, who was standing next to the Istanbul police chief, Mustafa Caliskan, in front of Police Headquarters, said a team of about 2,000 officers and special forces had been called in to capture the assailant.
The police investigation had focused on five addresses, and Mr. Masharipov was caught at one of them, Mr. Sahin said.
The police examined 7,200 hours of video in their search for the attacker, and they raided 152 addresses, detaining 50 people in the process.
A pistol, an air gun, ammunition, two drones and $197,000 were seized during the raid on the residence where Mr. Masharipov was found.
TV footage showed a cluttered apartment with white walls and white furniture. Fingerprint powder was visible on kitchen closets and on tables.
The governor said that Mr. Masharipov’s 4-year-old son, who had been reported to be with his father during the operation in Esenyurt, had not been present.
P.C: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/17/world/europe/turkey-nightclub-attack-suspect.html
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