Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim echoed hints that Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus made yesterday, that another entity besides the Islamic State was involved: “The perpetrator of this vile attack has been captured. The powers behind this will be revealed.”
“Captured suspect in nightclub attack is Uzbek with Islamic State ties, says Turkey,” by Kareem Fahim, Washington Post, January 17, 2017:
ISTANBUL — Turkish officials on Tuesday confirmed the arrest of a suspect accused of fatally shooting 39 people during a New Year’s party at an Istanbul nightclub, saying he was an Uzbek national linked to the Islamic State militant group who had received training in Afghanistan.
Officials said the suspect, Abdulkadir Masharipov, was arrested overnight in Istanbul’s high-rise Esenyurt district and detained along with four other people.
“The perpetrator of this vile attack has been captured,” Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters in Ankara, the Turkish capital. “The powers behind this will be revealed,” he added, without elaborating.
The attack on the waterfront Reina nightclub was among the worst mass killings in recent memory in Turkey. The details and surveillance footage shocked the country, depicting a brazen assault, with the gunman shooting his way through the front entrance of the club, one of Turkey’ most famous venues, as people fell around him….
The Islamic State quickly claimed responsibility, framing the carnage as retaliation for Turkey’s military involvement in Syria’s civil war. It was the first major attack on civilians in Turkey formally claimed by the Islamic State, adding to the litany of security threats facing the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Vasip Sahin, Istanbul’s governor, said on Tuesday that Masharipov was born in 1983, spoke four languages and was “well-trained.” The authorities believed he had arrived in Turkey last year. After the attack, the manhunt involved some two thousand officers searching dozens of locations, Sahin said….