Turkish police officers close the street in front of Santa Maria Church in Istanbul (French)
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerli Kaya announced - yesterday evening, Sunday - the arrest of two people suspected of being the perpetrators of the armed attack that targeted the Santa Maria Catholic Church in Istanbul during Sunday mass, resulting in the death of one person.
Yerli Kaya said that one of the suspects is from Tajikistan and the other is from Russia, suggesting that they belong to the Islamic State.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack through its Amaq agency, and said that the operation was carried out in response to a call from its leaders to “target Jews and Christians everywhere.”
Following the operation that took place in the Sariyir district of Istanbul, the police carried out 30 raids, resulting in the arrest of 47 people, according to what the Turkish Interior Minister said in a press conference.
Surveillance camera footage showed two men wearing black masks with their hands in their pockets and one of them wearing sunglasses. One of them shot and killed a man inside the church. About 40 people - including the Polish consul - were participating in Sunday mass when the shooting began, according to local officials.
The mayor of Sari Yare confirmed that after the second shot, the weapon used malfunctioned, so the two attackers fled the place before they were arrested. Local officials said that the toll of the attack could have been much greater.
Source: Agencies