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Erdogan condemns nightclub attack
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Fatal attack: Medics carry a wounded person at the scene after an attack at a popular nightclub in Istanbul, early Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017. Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said that an armed assailant has opened fire at a nightclub in Istanbul during New Year's celebrations. Turkish authorities have banned distribution of images relating to the Istanbul attack within Turkey.(IHA via AP) (Associated Press/-)
T
urkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned the attack on an Istanbul nightclub that left at least 39 people dead and nearly 70 wounded, saying Turkey will relentlessly continue fighting terror.
Erdogan said in a written statement Sunday: "I vehemently condemn the terror attack in Istanbul's Ortakoy neighborhood in the first hours of 2017."
Offering his condolences for those who lost their lives, including "foreign guests," Erdogan says "Turkey continues its combat against terror and is absolutely determined to do whatever is necessary in the region to ensure its citizens safety and peace."
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12:35 p.m.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent Turkey's president a telegram of condolences, denouncing the Istanbul nightclub attack.
"It is hard to imagine a more cynical crime than killing innocent people during New Year celebrations," Putin said in the message to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Kremlin said Sunday.
"However, terrorists don't share moral values. Our common duty is to combat terrorists' aggression," Putin said.
Nordic and Baltic leaders reacted on Twitter, with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius saying "terrorist cowards can kill, but can't win."
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite sent her "heartfelt condolences," while Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven called the attack "awful."
In Norway, Prime Minister Erna Solberg said it was a "cowardly armed attack toward innocent civilians."
There were no immediate reports of casualties from the region among the foreign victims.
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11:15 a.m.
Mehmet Dag, 22, was passing by the club where a gunman killed at least 39 people and wounded nearly 70 in Istanbul and saw the suspect shoot at a police officer and a bystander.
"I was in shock at the scene," he said. Dag says the suspect then targeted security, gunning them down and entering the club. "Once he went in, we don't know what happened. There were gun sounds and after two minutes, the sound of an explosion."
Istanbul's governor said the attacker, armed with a long-barreled weapon, killed a policeman and a civilian outside Istanbul's popular Reina club at around 1:15 a.m. before entering and firing on people partying inside.
IPhone footage filmed by Dag and obtained by The Associated Press shows a police officer lying on the ground outside the club, and then a woman. Dag tells the woman, who is lying on the floor face down in a pool of blood, "my sister, you will get better." He calls for an ambulance. Footage shows ambulances and the lights of an Istanbul bridge when the sound of gunfire rings out inside the club.
