Istanbul killer used family to deflect checks at airport
ISTANBUL — The gunman who massacred 39 people in an Istanbul nightclub reportedly brought his wife and children with him to Turkey in order to deflect attention as he prepared his assault.
Three days after the shooting at the Reina club in the early hours of New Year’s Day, Turkish authorities are still hunting for the killer and have yet to publicly identify him, despite having reportedly arrested his wife.
Sixteen people have been arrested so far in connection with the attack, including two foreigners who were detained at Istanbul’s airport, but the gunman himself is at large.
The woman identified as his wife was taken into custody in the city of Konya, along with two children.
The Haberturk newspaper said the killer had brought his family with him to avoid suspicion from Turkey’s security services. Young men travelling on their own face closer scrutiny than those with wives or children.
The woman told police that she did not know her husband was a member of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which claimed credit for the massacre, according to Hurriyet, another Turkish newspaper.
Turkish authorities believe the attacker had combat training and may have spent several years fighting with ISIL in Syria before leaving to carry out the attack in Istanbul.
“He is absolutely a killer and he probably shot at humans before,” said Abdullah Agar, a counter-terrorism expert. “The attacker is a determined, faithful, practical, cold-blooded expert and knows how to get results ... he probably fired bullets in real clash zones.”
Media reports said the killer and his family flew from Kyrgyzstan to Istanbul on Nov. 20 and then drove to Ankara, the Turkish capital, eventually arriving in Konya on Nov. 22.
They reportedly found a studio apartment and paid three months rent upfront. The gunman told a real estate agent that he was hoping to find a job in Konya, according to Hurriyet.
He spent a month in Konya, a city of around 1.2 million, before heading to Istanbul a few days before the attack.
An eerie video emerged Tuesday of the man believed to be the attacker, 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 walked 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 country remained on high alert Tuesday as police continued to hunt for the suspect, with heavily armed police out on the streets of Istanbul and checkpoints set up by security services.
— With files from AP