The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has taken credit for a Jan. 28 shooting of a man during a Catholic Mass held in the city of Istanbul in Turkey.
LifeSiteNews reported that 52-year-old Tuncer Cihan, a Turk, was shot and killed during Holy Mass at the Santa Maria Church. Two masked men opened fire during the consecration, killing Cihan and sparking terror inside the church. "The [pews] and walls [of the church] were peppered with bullet holes," the Associated Press (AP) said in a separate report.
Avsin Hatipoglu, an attorney for the church, told AP that Cihan was not a Christian. The victim was reportedly a member of the Alevi sect in Turkey. While its members claim to be Muslim, many mainstream Muslims reject Alevis.
ISIS claimed it was behind the murder of Cihan on the evening of Jan. 28. Through its media outlet Amaq News Agency, the radical Islamist group said individuals affiliated with it had "attacked a gathering of Christian unbelievers during their polytheistic ceremony." (Related: ISIS gearing up for blood-soaked comeback amid Gaza conflict.)
Despite this admission, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on the same day that the suspects had been apprehended. Aside from the two suspects, police raided 30 locations and detained some 47 others in connection with the shooting of Cihan.
"Both of the suspects are foreign nationals," he told reporters during a news briefing. "One of them is from Tajikistan and the other is Russian, and evaluated them to be with [ISIS]."
Yerlikaya stressed that Ankara "strongly condemns" the attack. "We will never tolerate those who try to disrupt the peace of our country – terrorists; their collaborators; both national and international criminal groups; and those who aim at our unity and solidarity," he said.
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According to EWTN News, the Jan. 28 attack at the Santa Maria Church followed Turkish law enforcement arresting more than two dozen suspected ISIS members. The suspects were apprehended for allegedly "plotting attacks on churches and synagogues."
ISIS also claims responsibility for attack at Holy Mass in the Philippines
"News of the shooting at the Istanbul Catholic church comes as conflict between Muslims, Christians, and Jews have once more become the subject of international reports in recent months," LifeSiteNews pointed out.
The outlet reported in a separate piece that ISIS-affiliated terrorists detonated a bomb on Dec. 3 during a Catholic Mass in a Philippine university. The explosion, which happened at the Mindanao State University (MSU) gymnasium in Marawi City, Lanao Del Sur province, killed four people and injured at least 50.
According to a communique reportedly obtained by the SITE Intelligence Group, ISIS confirmed that terrorists "detonated an explosive device on a large gathering of Christian disbelievers in Marawi City."
"This is clearly an act of terrorism," said Taha Mandangan, security chief of the university located in the southern Philippine province of Lanao Del Sur. "It's not a simple feud between two people. A bomb will kill everybody around."
"We unequivocally condemn in the strongest possible terms this senseless and horrific act and extend our heartfelt condolences to the victims and their families," MSU said in a statement. The university also announced that it has "suspended classes until further notice and has deployed additional security personnel to safeguard the campus."
"Violence has no place in a civilized society, and it is particularly abhorrent in an institution of higher learning like MSU – a bulwark of peace, harmony, solidarity, reverence for life and humanity."
This was not the first time Marawi was terrorized by ISIS. In 2017, the Maute Group – led by brothers Omar and Abdullah Maute – attacked the city in May of that year. The group, made up of former members of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front and foreign fighters, pledged allegiance to ISIS two years prior in April 2015.
Philippine military forces managed to liberate Marawi from the Maute Group in October 2017, following five months of fighting. Omar, Abdullah and five other Maute siblings were killed, alongside would-be ISIS emir Isnilon Hapilon.
Head over to Terrorism.news for news about ISIS.
Watch this clip from "Worldview Report" with Brannon Howse talking about ISIS' attack on the Santa Maria Church in Istanbul.
This video is from the Worldview Report channel on Brighteon.com.
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