
CV NEWS FEED // The man who was killed by two Islamic State gunmen during morning Mass on Sunday was Muslim, according to recent reports.
The 52-year old Tuncer Murat Cihan had wandered into Santa Maria Catholic Church in Istanbul on Sunday morning while out for a walk according to a recent Reuters report.
“Tuncer, the victim, was Alevi, a religious minority whose beliefs draw on Shi’ite Muslim, Sufi and Anatolian folk traditions, and a funeral was held for him at a cemevi, the Alevi places of worship,” the report stated.
As CatholicVote previously reported, Cihan was shot dead in the middle of the Consecration by two Islamic State gunmen from Russia and Tajikistan.
The Islamic State took responsibility for the attack on Sunday in a statement published to its media wing, Amaaq, claiming it “attacked a gathering of Christian unbelievers during their polytheistic ceremony.”
The attackers were arrested and detained late Sunday night, along with 51 others.
The report cites the man’s cousin, Murat Cihan, who told Reuters reporters that his relative “lived in his own world,” and had no political or religious connections to the Church.
Sariyer’s district mayor Sukru Genc told local media that the perpetrators fired two shots before one of their guns became jammed, thus preventing further casualties.
