In the first hours of 2017, an Islamic State (IS) militant attacked the Reina nightclub in one of Istanbul's most upscale neighborhoods. One man with an AK-47 and six magazines managed to hit over a hundred people in about seven to eight minutes, according to the initial police reports. Stun grenades were also used in the attack that killed 39 people from 14 different countries and wounded 71.
The terrorist is still on the loose at the time of this writing. The Turkish government has carried out several security operations in Istanbul and other cities in the last four days, and time is not on its side. On Dec. 5, Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak told the press that he could not rule out the possibility that the suspect may have escaped abroad already. He explained that the security forces have established the perpetrator's connections in Turkey, and that he is an ethnic Uighur.
