Turkey identifies nightclub killer
Makes new arrests as manhunt goes on; emergency extended
Turkey said yesterday it had identified the gunman behind the New Year's massacre on an elite Istanbul nightclub that killed 39, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the attack aimed to polarise Turkish society.
The assailant stormed the glamorous Reina nightclub on the Bosphorus early on Sunday morning, spraying 120 bullets at terrified partygoers celebrating the start of 2017.
Of the 39 dead, 27 were foreigners including citizens from Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Tunisia and Morocco.
At least 36 people have now been detained in the probe, but the gunman himself remains on the run after slipping into the night following the attack.
"The identity of the person responsible for the attack has been established," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said during an interview with state-run Anadolu news agency, without giving any name.
The attack was claimed by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, with reports suggesting the authorities suspect the gunman may be from either Kyrgyzstan or Uzbekistan, both ex-Soviet states.
"Efforts to capture him continue," said Cavusoglu, adding that the house the suspect lived in "has been searched" and that the attack he mounted had been "professionally" planned.
In his first spoken comments on the attack, Erdogan said the attack's aim was "to create a fissure and polarise society".
He insisted Turkey would resist efforts to divide the country, vowing that Turks would "stand tall and keep our sangfroid."
Turkish parliament on Tuesday extended a controversial state of emergency in place since the coup -- and which has seen over 41,000 people arrested -- by another three months to April 19.