01Jan2017 - ISTANBUL - 39 killed by masked gunmen

[TonyGosling]

New Year’s attack on packed Istanbul club leaves 39 deadWaterfront Ortakoy district on lockdown as police search for ‘Arabic-speaking’ gunman witnesses say was dressed as Santa Claus; some revelers jump into Bosphorus to flee gunfireBY AP AND AFP January 1, 2017, 1:44 am
http://www.timesofisrael.com/several-wounded-in-new-years-attack-on-is tanbul-night-club/
ISTANBUL — Thirty-nine people were killed Saturday in an armed attack on an Istanbul nightclub where locals were celebrating the New Year.

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Istanbul’s governor Vasip Sahin described the rampage as a “terror attack.”

“Unfortunately, at least 35 of our citizens lost their lives. One was a police officer,” Sahin told reporters at the scene of the attack, the Reina nightclub in Istanbul’s Ortakoy district by the Bosphorus on the city’s European shore. The death toll was later raised to 39.

“Forty people are receiving treatment in hospitals,” he added.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Turkish police special forces and ambulances are seen at the site of an armed attack on an Istanbul nightclub, January 1, 2017. (Yasin Akgul/AFP)
Turkish police special forces and ambulances are seen at the site of an armed attack on an Istanbul nightclub, January 1, 2017. (Yasin Akgul/AFP)

Reports conflicted as to the number of gunmen. The Dogan news agency and other local media referred initially to two shooters who had entered the venue, while officials said there was just one.

Witnesses said the gunman was dressed as Santa Claus.

Many party-goers threw themselves into the Bosphorus in panic after the shooting began, and rescue efforts were in progress to save them from the waters, the private NTV television network said.

Sinem Uyanik was inside the club with her husband who was wounded in the attack.

“Before I could understand what was happening, my husband fell on top me,” she said outside Istanbul’s Sisli Etfal Hospital. “I had to lift several bodies from top of me before I could get out. It was frightening.” Her husband was not in serious condition despite sustaining three wounds.

Medics and security officials work at the scene after an apparent terror attack at a popular nightclub in Istanbul, early Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017. (IHA via AP)
Medics and security officials work at the scene after an apparent terror attack at a popular nightclub in Istanbul, early Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017. (IHA via AP)

Police in riot gear and machine guns backed up by armored vehicle blocked the area close to the Reina club, one of the most popular night spots in Istanbul, in heavy rain. Several ambulances flashing blue lights arrived on the scene, some taking wounded to Istanbul hospitals.

Sahin, who spoke of a single gunman, said he had used a long-barreled firearm in the attack. “Unfortunately [he] rained bullets in a very cruel and merciless way on innocent people who were there to celebrate New Year’s and have fun,” he told reporters.

Dogan reported that some witnesses claimed the attacker was “speaking Arabic,” while NTV said police special forces were searching the nightclub for at least one gunman. If there was a second, there was no word as to his fate or whereabouts.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag vowed that Turkey would press ahead with its fight against violent groups.

“Turkey will continue its determined and effective combat to root out terror,” Bozdag said on Twitter.

Turkish authorities have imposed a ban on reporting about details of the attack within Turkey.

People, some holding Turkish flags, let balloons and lanterns loose into the air in Istanbul's Ortakoy district by the Bosphorus during New Year's celebrations early Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
People, some holding Turkish flags, let balloons and lanterns loose into the air in Istanbul’s Ortakoy district by the Bosphorus during New Year’s celebrations early Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

The nightclub is one of the most selective spots in the city, and getting inside past the bouncers who seek out only the best dressed is notoriously hard. According to Dogan, there were at least 700 revelers at the club celebrating the start of 2017 after a bloody 2016 in Turkey.

The attack came less than a month after twin blasts outside the Istanbul stadium of top Turkish team Besiktas on December 10 killed 44 people. That attack was claimed by Kurdish separatists.

The city suffered multiple terror attacks last year at the hands of Islamic State jihadists and Kurdish rebels, resulting in some 180 dead.

Security measures had been heightened in major Turkish cities, with police barring traffic leading up to key squares in Istanbul and the capital Ankara. In Istanbul, 17,000 police officers were put on duty, some camouflaged as Santa Claus and others as street vendors, the state news agency Anadolu reported.

[TonyGosling]

Eyewitness shown on MAIN BBC NEWS last night said there were "TWO OR THREE SHOOTERS"

At Least 35 People Killed After Shooters Dressed As Santas Open Fire In Istanbul Nightclub - Live Feed Dec 31, 2016 7:53 PM
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-12-31/least-35-people-killed-40-inj ured-after-shooters-dressed-santas-open-fire-istanbul-n

Turkey greeted the New Year with another tragedy after at least 35 people were killed and 40 wounded around 1:15 am local time, when gunmen dressed as Santas opened fire on New Year's revelers at a nightclub in Istanbul on Sunday morning, Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin told reporters.

BBC Breaking News ✔ @BBCBreaking
Gunman in #Reina Istanbul nightclub attack was reportedly wearing a Santa Claus costume, according to local mediahttp://bbc.in/2ipMxAk
12:31 AM - 1 Jan 2017
2,677 2,677 Retweets 1,413 1,413 likes

Ambulances line up in front of the Reina nightclub in Istanbul, where a gun
attack took place during a New Year party.

The assailant shot a police officer and a civilian as he entered the Reina nightclub before opening fire at random inside according to Reuters. The club lies on the shore of the Bosphorus Strait in the Ortakoy district of Turkey's most populous city.

"A terrorist with a long-range weapon ... brutally and savagely carried out this incident by firing bullets on innocent people who were there solely to celebrate the New Year and have fun," Sahin told reporters at the scene.

Dozens of ambulances and police vehicles were dispatched to the club in Ortakoy, a cosmopolitan neighborhood nestled under one of three bridges crossing the Bosphorus, and home to clubs, restaurants and art galleries. Reina is one of Istanbul's best-known nightclubs, popular with locals and tourists alike.

CNN Türk ENG ✔ @CNNTURK_ENG
#BREAKING Istanbul Governor says at least 35 people killed, 40 wounded in attack at Reina night club #Turkey
12:21 AM - 1 Jan 2017
568 568 Retweets 133 133 likes

ilhan tanir ✔ @WashingtonPoint
Attackers w kaleshnikovs reportedly still inside famous #Reina club.
Seen several dead & injured people footage & photos. #IstanbulAttacked.
11:29 PM - 31 Dec 2016
316 316 Retweets 81 81 likes

Sahin told local media that the assailants first killed the police officer, who was standing at the door of the club, and then went on a rampage inside, killing innocent civilians. A policeman and a civilian are reported to be among the two known casualties at the nightclub. There were two attackers involved, according to NTV, but conflicting reports also described a lone gunman.

31 Dec
Murat Şahin @SunucuSpiker
Resmi olmamakla birlikte ilk bulguların IŞİD'i işaret ettiği bilgisi var.
Follow
Murat Şahin @SunucuSpiker
İşte ilk götüntüler. 40 civarı yaralı olduğu belirtiliyor. pic.twitter.com/FExbV7e7Qy
11:21 PM - 31 Dec 2016
74 74 Retweets 31 31 likes

The gunmen were dressed in Santa Claus outfits, wielding assault rifles, Turkish media said.

View image on TwitterView image on Twitter
Follow
Jewish Breaking News @JBN
breaking An armed attack on a local club, Reina, in #Istanbul. Many casualties reported. At least 2 dead and over 50 ambulances on scene
11:20 PM - 31 Dec 2016
266 266 Retweets 100 100 likes

According to RT, one of the gunmen has reportedly hidden inside the club, while the whereabouts of the second one were not immediately clear. The number of casualties may rise, as local press estimates that between 500 and 600 people could have been in the club at the time of the attack, Mynet Haber reports.

Emergency crews have been evacuating injured people from the building as the police search for suspects. Some people jumped into the waters of the Bosphorus to save themselves and were being rescued by police.

A search and rescue operation for those who jumped in the water is being carried out by maritime police.

[TonyGosling]

If it was him...

Turkey Blames ‘Intelligence Agency’ for Islamic State New Year’s Eve Attack
by FRANCES MARTEL16 Jan 201713
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/01/16/turkey-blames-in telligence-agency-islamic-state-new-years-eve-attack/

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş blamed “an intelligence organization” for helping organize the New Year’s Eve terrorist massacre that killed 39 people in Istanbul’s Reina nightclub. The Islamic State has taken credit for the attack.
“It appears the Reina attack was not just a terrorist organization’s act, but there was also an intelligence organization involved. It was an extremely planned and organized act,” Kurtulmuş said on Monday, according to the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet. The Deputy PM did not elaborate on the claim or specify what kind of intelligence organization was involved, domestic or foreign. Despite the Islamic State’s official claim that the terrorist responsible for the Reina massacre was one of its own, the terrorist organization Kurtulmuş mentioned in the interview was, instead, the group led by Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Yeni Safak, a newspaper friendly to the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, quotes Kurtulmuş as using the opportunity to demand the United States extradite Gulen. “It would be for not only Turkey’s but also US’ benefit to extradite or at least try Gülen and don’t let the him lead its terrorist organization,” the Deputy PM argued, “because such a move would improve bilateral relations of US and Turkey.”

Turkey claims that Gulen’s network of charter schools, which Ankara calls the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), was responsible for the failed coup attempt against Erdogan in July 2016. Gulen has denied the claims.

It remains unclear whether Ankara suspects Gulenists were behind the Reina nightclub attack. The government has been quick to accuse FETO of involvement in terrorist acts in the past – for example, the assassination of Russian ambassador Andrei Karlov in December.

This is not the first time Kurtulmuş makes the claim that a government agency may have potentially been involved in the attack. Earlier this month, Kurtulmuş told Hurriyet the attack “seems like a secret service thing,” saying he suspected, though he could not prove, that “foreign intelligence services” were involved. Today’s remarks appear to indicate the government has compiled evidence that lends more weight to that theory.

After initially claiming the suspect, who is still at large, was a Kyrgyz citizen, Turkish authorities accused Uzbek citizen Abdulgadir Masharipov of having orchestrated the attack and released a picture. Masharipov reportedly uses the Islamic State nom de guerre “Ebu Muhammed Horasani.” Masharipov’s wife told authorities she had no idea her husband had ties to the Islamic State. Authorities have described Masharipov as a “professional” killer who appeared to boast skills that only a “specially-trained” jihadi would in videos of the attack.

Many experts have speculated that Masharipov also enjoyed the support of a highly developed terrorist cell within Turkey. “It’s clear that this person was not just a lone wolf,” former Turkish intelligence head Cevdet Öneş said last week. “We can say the attack was a result of cooperation and people helping each other.”

Police arrested two men, identified as Omar Asim and Abuliezi Abuduhamiti, during the weekend, accused of being part of the advanced terrorist cell in question. Turkish authorities have arrested another 20 suspects, one identified as the head of the Islamic State’s small Istanbul wing, according to Hurriyet. The two men most recently arrested are believed to be ethnic Uighurs, members of the predominantly Muslim Chinese ethnic minority largely residing in western Xinjiang province. Police have speculated that Masharipov may also be Uighur. China has estimated that up to 200 of its Uighur citizens have joined the Islamic State.

Masharipov is suspected of killing 39 people and injuring nearly 70 others, mostly Middle Eastern tourists attending the club’s New Year’s celebration. The Islamic State considers the celebration of the end of the Western calendar year a pagan holiday, which Muslims should abstain from observing or face torture and death for violating Sharia law.