The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Turkey airs video of shooting suspect
An eerie video emerged Tuesday of a man believed to be the attacker who killed 39 people in a mass shooting at a nightclub, showing him taking a selfie as he silently toured Istanbul’s most famous square.
The camera never leaves the man’s unsmiling face as he walks through Taksim Square during the 44-second clip that was broadcast on state-run Anadolu television and other Turkish media.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the video was made before or after the New Year’s massacre at the Reina nightclub, or how it was obtained. The gunman, who hasn’t been publicly identified, is still at large.
On Monday, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, which also wounded nearly 70 people. The extremists said a “soldier of the caliphate” had carried out the mass shooting to avenge the Islamic State for Turkish military operations against it in northern Syria.
Funerals began Tuesday in Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Turkey for the dead, most of them tourists. Mourners wept for the lives that were cut short in the early hours of 2017 at the popular and glamorous club.
Thousands attended the funeral of Layan Nasser, an 18-year-old Arab Israeli dental assistant who was buried the Israeli city of Tira. “She had dreams to work, to progress, to study, to raise a family, but unfortunately the terror put an end to her dreams,” said Tira Mayor Mamoun Abd El Hai.
Hundreds of people attended funerals for two of three Lebanese victims. One of them, 26-year-old fitness instructor Elias Wardini, was recently engaged to be married.
At least 14 people have been detained in connection with the attack, including two foreigners stopped Tuesday at the international terminal of Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport after police checked their cellphones and luggage, according to Anadolu.
The Hurriyet newspaper said a woman identified by Turkish media as the wife of the suspect has told police she didn’t know her husband was a member of the Islamic State. The woman was detained in the central town of Konya as part of the investigation. Neither she nor her husband were identified.
Several media outlets, citing unidentified security sources, reported Monday that the man was believed to be from Central Asia and may have been part of the cell that attacked Ataturk Airport in June, killing 45 people.