MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Leaders from across the world, including France, Germany, the United Kingdom and China condemned the terrorist attack, which took place in an Istanbul club in the early hours of Sunday.
“The President of the [French] Republic [Francois Hollande] strongly condemns the terrorist act, which claimed lives of at least 39 people at the New Year’s party at the nightclub in Istanbul,” a statement by the Elysee Palace read.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he was “appalled by the news about the New Year’s Eve on the Bosporus.”
“At these difficult times we are on the side of Turkey,” Steinmeier said as quoted in a statement by the German Foreign Ministry.
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said his country stood “shoulder to shoulder” with Ankara.
Thoughts with #Turkey after cowardly act of terrorism in #Istanbul nightclub attack. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our Turkish friends
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) 1 января 2017 г.
Chinese Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the country’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, had sent a letter of condolences to his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
“China strongly condemns the incident, firmly opposes any form of terrorism, intends to strengthen together with the Turkish side and the international community the coordination and cooperation and defend global and regional peace and security,” Hua said as quoted in the ministry’s statement.
The Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry said the attack was a “heinous crime.”
“The world has experienced yet another manifestation of terrorism in the form of such a heinous crime, the organizers and inspirers of which must be detected and punished in the framework of a fair trial,” the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev expressed condolences to the Turkish people and expressed support to the fight against terrorism.
“We support the fight against terrorism in the most rigid, firm and consistent form,” Aliyev said as quoted in by his press service.
Nightclub Reina in the Besiktas district was reportedly attacked by a man, who was talking in Arabic. The attacker is said to have opened fire from a Kalashnikov assault rifle.
At least 39 people were killed, including 16 foreigners, and 69 injured as a result of the attack, according to the Turkish Interior Ministry.
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