ISTANBUL // An Uzbek man, 34, confessed on Tuesday to slaughtering 39 people at an Istanbul nightclub on New Year’s Eve.
Abdulgadir Masharipov was captured in a police raid after 17 days on the run. Three women and an Iraqi man were also arrested during a massive operation involving 2,000 police officers in Istanbul.
“The terrorist confessed his crime,” Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin said. He said fingerprints retrieved by forensics teams matched those of the attacker.
The governor said Masharipov was trained in Afghanistan, speaks four languages and is believed to have first entered Turkey illegally via its eastern border in January, 2016
“He is a well-trained terrorist,” Mr Sahin said.
Masharipov’s wife and daughter were detained in Istanbul on January 12. He is thought to have been with his four-year-old son at the time of his arrest. Photos showed Masharipov with a bruised eye and blood on his face and shirt, his neck gripped by a police officer.
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ISIL in Turkey
■ With nothing to lose, ISIL shows its hand in Turkey
■ Capture of Istanbul attacker a small victory among Turkey's security woes
■ The arrest of the Istanbul nightclub attacker – in pictures
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Police also confiscated 185,000 euros, two firearms and clips during the raid on an apartment.
The arrest came as a relief to Istanbul residents who were already on edge after several attacks in the city and who had feared for more than a two weeks that a trained killer was on the loose.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the arrest and congratulated the security forces.
“From now on in this country, nobody will get away with what they have done,” he said. “Everyone will be brought to account within the rule of law.”
After the attack on the Reina nightclub, which was claimed by ISIL, Masharipov had apparently slipped into the night. Security at the border was tightened but he did not leave Turkey. Instead, he was hiding in the working-class, densely populated western districts of Istanbul. The police eventually traced him to an apartment in the residential Esenyurt district.
An Iraqi man was also detained with him, as well as three women – one an Egyptian citizen and two others from African states.
Police allowed reporters into the apartment, which had been turned upside down during the 20 minute raid. Drawers had been flung open and clothes thrown on the floor, but there were also tantalising glimpses of daily life, such as handwritten notes and a half-eaten loaf of bread.
Neighbours were shocked to discover they had been living next to the most wanted man in Turkey. “It is like a nightmare, this man was living under the same roof and we didn’t know it,” said neighbour Sezen Aras.
Ali Haydar Demir knew something was wrong when he heard a commotion at around midnight in his apartment block on 911 Street in Esenyurt. “I heard a noise and went out – I thought someone was stuck in the lift. Then I saw the police in the corridor, and they told me to go inside,” he said. In fact, Mr Demir had stumbled upon the final preparations in the operation to capture Masharipov, who was living on the same floor.
There had been confusion over the attacker’s identity after the massacre, with reports initially suggesting a Kyrgyz national and then a Uighur from China was responsible.
But authorities later identified him as a 34-year-old Uzbek who was part of a Central Asian ISIL cell using the code name Ebu Muhammed Horasani.
Police released images taken from a chilling silent video he filmed with a selfie stick in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, before carrying out the attack.
The police are thought to have identified his location three days before the arrest, but delayed the raid so they could track his movements and his contacts.
The investigation had also focused on the central Turkish city of Konya where the attacker lived for several weeks after returning from Syria before moving to Istanbul.
Fifty people have now been detained in the investigation as a result of raids on 152 locations.
Of the 39 killed in the Reina nightclub, 27 were foreigners. They included citizens from Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Iraq and Morocco.
Although ISIL had been blamed for several previous terrorist attacks, including the triple suicide bombings at Istanbul airport last June, this was the first time the group had openly admitted a major attack in Turkey. It said it was in retaliation for Turkish military operations in northern Syria.
Capturing the attacker alive is a major victory for the Turkish security forces as he may be able to shed light on the existence of other ISIL cells in the city.
Prime minister Binali Yildirim said: “What matters is the capture of the perpetrator of this vile attack and exposing the powers behind him.”
* Agencies
Recipe
Garlicky shrimp in olive oil
Gambas Al Ajillo
Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
180ml extra virgin olive oil; 4 to 5 large cloves of garlic, minced or pureed (or 3 to 4 garlic scapes, roughly chopped); 1 or 2 small hot red chillies, dried (or ¼ teaspoon dried red chilli flakes); 400g raw prawns, deveined, heads removed and tails left intact; a generous splash of sweet chilli vinegar; sea salt flakes for seasoning; a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Method
▶ Heat the oil in a terracotta dish or frying pan. Once the oil is sizzling hot, add the garlic and chilli, stirring continuously for about 10 seconds until golden and aromatic.
▶ Add a splash of sweet chilli vinegar and as it vigorously simmers, releasing perfumed aromas, add the prawns and cook, stirring a few times.
▶ Once the prawns turn pink, after 1 or 2 minutes of cooking, remove from the heat and season with sea salt flakes.
▶ Once the prawns are cool enough to eat, scatter with parsley and serve with small forks or toothpicks as the perfect sharing starter. Finish off with crusty bread to soak up all that flavour-infused olive oil.
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The Kingfisher Secret
Anonymous, Penguin Books
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Who is Allegra Stratton?
- Previously worked at The Guardian, BBC’s Newsnight programme and ITV News
- Took up a public relations role for Chancellor Rishi Sunak in April 2020
- In October 2020 she was hired to lead No 10’s planned daily televised press briefings
- The idea was later scrapped and she was appointed spokeswoman for Cop26
- Ms Stratton, 41, is married to James Forsyth, the political editor of The Spectator
- She has strong connections to the Conservative establishment
- Mr Sunak served as best man at her 2011 wedding to Mr Forsyth
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari, Jonathan Cape
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
