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Türkiye Arrests Suspected Istanbul Church Attack Planner Linked to ISIS

Turkish police officers stand guard in a cordoned off area outside the Santa Maria church, in Istanbul, Türkiye, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. (AP)
Turkish police officers stand guard in a cordoned off area outside the Santa Maria church, in Istanbul, Türkiye, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. (AP)
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Türkiye Arrests Suspected Istanbul Church Attack Planner Linked to ISIS

Turkish police officers stand guard in a cordoned off area outside the Santa Maria church, in Istanbul, Türkiye, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. (AP)
Turkish police officers stand guard in a cordoned off area outside the Santa Maria church, in Istanbul, Türkiye, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. (AP)

Turkish authorities have arrested ISIS militant believed to be involved in planning an attack on the Santa Maria Italian Church in Istanbul earlier this year, the country's intelligence agency said on Saturday.

The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) said the suspect, whom it identified as Viskhan Soltamatov, was believed to be the key figure behind the Jan. 28, 2024 attack. He was detained by MIT and police during a joint operation in Istanbul, the agency said, Reuters reported.

MIT said Soltamatov was also believed to have supplied the weapon used in the assault.

One Turkish citizen was killed by two ISIS gunmen at the Italian Santa Maria Catholic Church in Istanbul in January.

The church attack was orchestrated by ISIS-linked operatives from the group's Khorasan Province (ISKP), a faction active in Afghanistan. In April, Türkiye had arrested 48 people believed to be linked to the attack.

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Medvedev Threatens to Turn Kyiv Into 'Giant Melted Spot'

Senior Russian security official and former president Dmitry Medvedev. EPA
Senior Russian security official and former president Dmitry Medvedev. EPA
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Medvedev Threatens to Turn Kyiv Into 'Giant Melted Spot'

Senior Russian security official and former president Dmitry Medvedev. EPA
Senior Russian security official and former president Dmitry Medvedev. EPA

Senior Russian security official and former president Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday Russia could destroy Ukraine's capital Kyiv with non-nuclear weapons in response to the use of Western long-range missiles by Ukraine.

Medvedev said Moscow already had formal grounds to use nuclear weapons since Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region, but could instead use some of its new weapon technologies to reduce Kyiv to "a giant melted spot" when its patience runs out.

"Holy shit! It's impossible, but it happened," he wrote in English on the Telegram messaging app.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said late on Friday that his plan to achieve victory depended on Washington's decision, a clear reference to the authorization for long-range strikes that Kyiv has long sought from NATO allies.

Andriy Yermak, head of Zelenskiy's office, said on the Telegram messaging app on Saturday: "Strong decisions are needed. Terror can be stopped by destroying the military facilities where it originates."

Kyiv has said such strikes are critical for its efforts to restrict Moscow's ability to attack Ukraine, but allies have so far been reluctant to permit them, citing fears Moscow will treat them as an escalation and doubting their efficiency.