A churchgoer has been killed in an attack on a church in the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul. According to the Minister of the Interior, Ali Yerlikaya, two masked men opened fire this morning in a Catholic church. The jihadist militia Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the crime. The two suspects in the crime were arrested. The alleged attackers came from Tajikistan and Russia, Yerlikaya said at a news conference.
With their act, the perpetrators followed the call of the IS leadership to kill Christians and Jews around the world, the jihadist militia explained in its responsibility message on the Telegram messaging service. Authorities had already expressed the assessment that the attack was apparently not directed against the Catholic Church.
“We condemn this heinous attack in the strongest possible terms,” said Interior Minister Yerlikaya. According to him, everything indicated that the two men deliberately killed the victim. Yerlikaya later said police arrested two suspects who fled the scene.