2 suspects in Istanbul church attack confined: minister

ISTANBUL -- Two suspects of the armed attack on an Italian church in Türkiye's largest city Istanbul on Sunday were confined, said Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.

"I congratulate our Istanbul police department and the heroic police officers who identified and captured the perpetrators," Yerlikaya stated on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. The assailants attacked the Santa Maria Church in the Sariyer district on the European side of the city at around 11:40 am local time (0840 GMT), killing one person during a Sunday Mass.

Earlier in the day, Istanbul Governor Davut Gul said the dead person was a 52-year-old Turkish citizen. After the incident, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his condolences during a phone call with the priest of the Italian church.