Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tong announced today that authorities have officially arrested 25 suspects in the shooting of a man during a mass at a church in Istanbul earlier this week. Tong stated on social media platform X that among the twenty-five suspects, there are two armed individuals who have previously been arrested by the police and are believed to be linked to the terrorist organization "ISIS."
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya mentioned that the main suspects are two foreign nationals, one from Tajikistan and the other from Russia. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on Telegram, stating it was in response to a request from the organization’s leaders to target Jews and Christians.
Tong indicated that the twenty-five suspects are accused of belonging to an illegal organization and premeditated murder coupled with aggravating circumstances. He added that nine of them have been temporarily released pending trial.
The attack occurred on Sunday morning at the Santa Maria Roman Catholic Church in the Sariyer district of Istanbul. The gunmen targeted a Turkish citizen, killing him during the mass. A relative of the victim reported that he entered the church while strolling in the area and had no political or religious affiliations. Authorities noted that more casualties could have occurred had the weapon not malfunctioned.
Surveillance footage from inside the church, which Reuters verified, showed masked gunmen entering the building and shooting at the man walking in front of them.
