Turkish Police Hunt for Gunman in Istanbul Nightclub Terror Attack WSJrnl Jan 1 17
Assault killed at least 39 people, among them 15 foreigners
People react on the street outside the Istanbul nightclub where at least 39 people died in a New Year’s attack. PHOTO: YASIN AKGUL/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
Turkish police were searching for a gunman who opened fire in an Istanbul nightclub popular with international jet-setters in the early hours of New Year’s Day, killing at least 39 people and wounding dozens of others in the latest attack to rock a nation battling terrorism on multiple fronts.
The lone attacker sprayed bullets into a crowd of revelers who had come from across the Middle East and elsewhere to celebrate at the Reina, a sprawling, cosmopolitan party spot overlooking the Bosporus. Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin called it an “act of terror.”
At least 15 of those killed were foreigners, said Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, according to state-run news agency Anadolu. In addition to Turks, the dead included citizens of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, France and Belgium, Turkish officials said.
As of Sunday evening, no group had claimed responsibility for the attack.
Over the past year, Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has been hit by attacks from Kurdish and Islamic State assailants that have killed hundreds of people.
The assaults have come as the country has waged a multipronged campaign to stamp out a Kurdish insurgency at home while intervening in Syria’s civil war to curb territorial gains by Kurds there and to back rebel groups against the Damascus government.
Turkey is also fighting Islamic State in Syria and plays a key role in the U.S.-led coalition against the extremist organization.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a statement Sunday, saying terror attacks are an attempt to create chaos, demoralize people and destabilize the country. “We will preserve our calm as a nation, standing more closely together, and we will never allow such dirty games,” he said.
The government, in what has become an increasingly routine step, has imposed a media ban on coverage of the attack, prohibiting reporting of information other than what is released by authorities. The country remains under a state of emergency imposed after an attempted coup in July.
Mehmet Gormez, chief of the religious-affairs arm of the prime minister’s office, said the New Year’s attack differed from previous terrorist acts in the country because it sought “to foment public unrest to split society based on lifestyles.”
His remarks highlight a continuing culture war between Turkey’s overwhelmingly observant majority Muslim population and a sizable portion of society that espouses a Western lifestyle that at times clashes with Islamic piety.
Under Mr. Erdogan, Turkey’s government has shifted away from a Western-facing secularism that defined its policies for decades. He has boosted the role of Islam and built ties with the Middle East. He has given religious schools a bigger role in education and levied heavy taxes on alcohol.
On Friday the religious-affairs directorate questioned why “the first hours of a new year should be turned into waste with New Year’s celebrations that belong to other cultures,” according to the transcript of a sermon posted on the directorate’s website.
Perched on the waterfront, the Reina is popular with the Ferrari-driving crowd. It can hold more than 3,000 people and houses restaurants serving food from kebabs to sushi. It can be accessed by land and sea. Some wealthy guests arrive on yachts, especially in the summer months.
Just after 1 a.m. Sunday, the gunman killed a police officer and another person on the street before entering the club and opening fire. Prime Minister Binali Yildrim said the assailant dumped his weapon and is believed to have made his escape by blending in with fleeing partygoers.
Reina owner Mehmet Kocarslan said police and the coast guard had stepped up security efforts with added patrols in the two weeks leading up to New Year’s Eve, especially along the popular strip of the Bosporus dotted with restaurants, taverns, cafes and bars that is home to the club.
“Despite all the precautions, this deplorable incident has come to pass,” he said in a statement. Reina’s entrance was covered by blue tarpaulin on Sunday as authorities investigated. A Turkish flag hung from the facade.
The U.S. consulate in Istanbul on Sunday advised Americans to “shelter in place and to limit movements to an absolute minimum.” It said the club attack showed that extremists “are continuing aggressive efforts to conduct attacks in areas where U.S. citizens and expatriates reside or frequent.”
“Tragic start to 2017,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in a tweet shortly after the attack.
He was joined by U.S. President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the European Union’s foreign-policy chief, Federica Mogherini, who extended condolences to Turkey and pledged to continue working with Ankara to attempt to prevent such tragedies.
Pope Francis, in his New Year’s address, called for a coordinated global effort to fight terrorism. “I ask the Lord to sustain all men of good will to courageously roll up their sleeves to confront the plague of terrorism and this stain of blood that is covering the world with a shadow of fear,” he said.
Men lay flowers outside the Reina nightclub on Sunday after the attack. PHOTO: UMIT BEKTAS /REUTERS
Less than a month ago, an attack for which Kurdish separatists claimed responsibility killed at least 44 people—mostly policemen—outside a soccer stadium in Istanbul. A week later, another bombing claimed by Kurds killed 14 soldiers in the central Anatolian city of Kayseri.
TERROR IN TURKEY
Turkey has suffered a series of terror attacks over the past year. These are some of the most deadly:
- Dec. 10: Twin bomb attack outside stadium in Istanbul kills 44 people; Kurdish militant group claims responsibility
- Aug. 20: Bomb attack on wedding party in Gaziantep kills at least 30; Islamic State suspected
- July 30: Thirty-five Kurdish fighters try to storm military base and are killed by Turkish army
- June 28: Gun-and-bomb attack blamed on Islamic State on Ataturk airport, Istanbul, kills 41
- March 13: Thirty-seven killed by Kurdish militants in suicide car bombing in Ankara
- Feb 17: Twenty-eight die in attack on a military convoy in Ankara
