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Santa Maria Church in Istanbul: Links to the Islamic State terrorist militia investigated
Photo: Emrah Gurel/dpa
Turkish police have arrested two suspects after a man was killed in a Catholic church in Istanbul on Sunday. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced this on the social media platform X on Sunday evening.
The suspected attackers came from Tajikistan and Russia, he said at a news conference. Possible connections to the terrorist militia “Islamic State” (IS) are being investigated. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
Two masked men entered the Santa Maria Catholic Church in Istanbul's Sariyer district during church services on Sunday and killed a man. According to media reports, the victim was 52 years old. The perpetrators initially managed to escape. Emergency services carried out raids on 30 addresses and arrested a total of 47 people in the course of the investigation, said Interior Minister Yerlikaya.
More than 99 percent of the people in Turkey are Muslim. According to the state news agency Anadolu, more than 180,000 Christians live in the country.
kha/dpa