Istanbul (agencies)
A person was killed after two gunmen opened fire in a church in Istanbul during a religious ceremony yesterday, in an attack condemned by Rome and Pope Francis, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed taking “necessary measures” to arrest its perpetrators.
The attack took place in the Santa Maria Church in the Sariyer district of Istanbul and was carried out by two masked men, according to what Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on social media. Turkish officials said: The attack appears to have targeted one person and not the Catholic Church.
The minister pointed out that a person who was participating in the ceremony was killed after the armed attack.
Yerlikaya indicated that an investigation had been opened to find the two attackers who fled the site after the shooting. Local officials said that about 40 people were participating in the mass.
Footage broadcast on television channels showed the presence of police officers and an ambulance in front of the nineteenth-century church.
“We strongly condemn this shameful attack,” Yerlikaya said.
Surveillance camera footage before the attack showed two men wearing black masks, with their hands in their pockets, and one of them wearing black sunglasses.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was participating in an election campaign for his party in Eskisehir province in preparation for the local elections in March, offered his condolences during a phone call with the church priest and local officials.
Erdogan said that “necessary measures are being taken to arrest the perpetrators as soon as possible,” his office said.
In turn, Pope Francis expressed his support for the followers of the targeted church, saying that he stands “with the community of the Church of Santa Maria in Istanbul, which was subjected during Mass to an armed attack that resulted in one dead person and a number of wounded.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote on the “X” platform, “The Italian government is following the development of what happened this morning in the Church of Santa Maria in Istanbul,” adding, “We express our sincere condolences and strong condemnation of this despicable act.”
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Taiani expressed his “strong condemnation” of the attack, and confirmed that he was following “the situation with the embassy in Ankara and the consulate in Istanbul,” expressing his “certainty that the Turkish authorities will arrest those responsible.”
Ruling Justice and Development Party spokesman Omer Celik said: The attackers targeted a citizen during the mass, adding, “Our security forces are conducting a wide-ranging investigation into the matter.”
He continued, “Whoever threatens the peace and security of our citizens will never achieve his goals.”
Istanbul Governor Davut Gul confirmed to reporters at the site that there were no casualties.
The motive behind the attack was not immediately clear.
In December, Turkish security forces arrested 32 people suspected of being linked to ISIS members who were planning attacks on churches and places of worship. In recent months, Turkey has intensified its operations against members of ISIS, which claimed responsibility for a number of attacks in Turkey, including an attack in 2017 in Istanbul that killed 39 people.
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