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# Gunmen opened fire on New Year’s Eve celebrations in an Istanbul nightclub

## This is a developing story.

By [Caitlin Hu](/content/author/caitlin-hu/index.html) and [Caitlin Hu](/content/author/caitlinhu/index.html)

Updated July 20, 2022

_This is a developing story._

Turkish police are still hunting for a man who [attacked a popular Istanbul nightclub](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_TURKEY_ATTACK?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-01-01-08-18-18) on New Year’s eve, killing at least 35 people and injuring more than 70.

Several hundred New Year’s celebrants had been [packed inside the popular club Reina](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-attack-idUSKBN14K0NH), according to local media, when the attack began around 1:30am. Early reports described the attacker as [dressed in a Santa costume.](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/31/world/europe/turkey-istanbul-attack.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur)

Police and ambulances gathered outside the club, which is located [in the Ortakoy district](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38481521) on the European side of the city. According to local newspaper Hurriyet, Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) [banned further broadcasts](http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/several-wounded-in-gun-attack-on-famous-night-club-in-central-istanbul.aspx?pageID=238&nID=107983&NewsCatID=509) about the Jan. 1 attack after Sahin’s statement.

Turkey has been troubled by terror threats and attacks throughout the past year, including the [assassination of a Russian diplomat](/content/867051/russias-ambassador-to-turkey-was-assassinated-in-public-at-a-photo-exhibit-in-ankara/index.html) in December and [suicide attacks](/content/719357/the-istanbul-airport-attacks-will-test-turkish-airlines-global-ambitions/index.html) at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport in June. An ISIL-linked media group recently [urged followers to attack](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/31/world/europe/turkey-istanbul-attack.html) Western clubs, markets, and movie theaters over the holidays, singling out Turkey in garbled English:  “Turn their happiness and joy into grieves, and their feasts into funerals.”