Turkey police at the scene of New Year mass shooting in Istanbul
Turkish authorities have identified the man suspected of gunning down 39 people at a nightclub on New Year’s Eve in Istanbul, a state media reported on Wednesday.
Mevlut Cavusoglu, Foreign Minister, stated in Istanbul that the identity of the attacker was known, without giving further details.
The report noted that his comments came hours after the agency reported that five suspects linked to Islamic State had been detained as part of the ongoing investigation.
They were reportedly being held in Turkey’s coastal city of Izmir.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, in which partygoers, many of them foreign nationals from the Middle East, were killed while ringing in the New Year at Istanbul’s upmarket Reina nightclub.
The report stated further that the number of people held in connection with the attack now stands at 43, including the wife of the suspected attacker.
However, the main suspect remains on the run.