ISIL describes nightclub attack as “act of revenge”<br /> Turkish authorities arrest eight<br /> Attacker still at large, police release photo<br /> Victims from Turkey, Middle East, North Africa, India<br /><br /> ISIL claims the Reina nightclub attack<br /><br /> ISIL says it was behind the New Year’s Day mass shooting in a crowded nightclub in Istanbul in which 39 people died.<br /><br /> The group described the Reina nightclub as a gathering point for Christians celebrating their “apostate holiday”.<br /><br /> It said the attack was revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria.<br /><br /> “The apostate Turkish government should know that the blood of Muslims shed with airplanes and artillery fire will, with God’s permission, ignite a fire in their own land,” the ISIL declaration said.<br /><br /> ISIL has been blamed for at least half-a-dozen attacks on civilian targets in Turkey over the past 18 months.<br /><br /> However, other than assassinations, this is the first time it has directly claimed any one of them.<br /><br /> It made the statement on one of its Telegram channels, a method used after attacks elsewhere.<br /><br /> The Islamic State issued a rare claim of responsibility on Monday for an attack in Turkey https://t.co/JoRqMXwEU4 pic.twitter.com/B6iGxDPhX2— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 2, 2017<br /><br /> What the Turkish government says<br /><br /> In a statement hours after the shooting, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said such attacks aimed to create chaos and destabilise the country.<br /><br /> Speaking at a news conference in Ankara, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said it was clear Turkey’s military operations in Syria had annoyed terrorist groups and those behind them.<br /><br /> “This attack is a message to Turkey against all decisive operations across the border,” Kurtulmus said, adding that the offensive in Syria would continue until all threats to Turkey were removed.<br /><br /> Kurtulmus also told reporters the authorities are close to identifying the gunman, after gathering fingerprints and information on his basic appearance.<br /><br /> Eight other people have been detained.<br /><br /> Kurtulmus said the authorities are monitoring hundreds of social media accounts that allegedly “were determined to sow seeds of enmity” and that legal actions has been taken against 92 people.<br /><br /> Kurtulmus also described the nightclub attack, in the early hours of 2017, as a message from extremist organisations that they intended to continue to be a “scourge” against Turkey in the new year.<br /><br /> But the deputy prime minister went on to say that “with all our national capacity, we will bring them to their knees”.<br /><br /> Read the latest with Anadolu Posthttps://t.co/jKgDasX2tW pic.twitter.com/Ic2B9tDjLP— ANADOLU AGENCY (ENG) (@anadoluagency) January 2, 2017<br /><br /> International involvement<br /><br /> NATO member Turkey is part of the US-led coalition against ISIL.<br /><br /> In August, Ankara launched an incursion into neighbouring Syria to drive the radical Sunni militants and Kurdish militia fighters away from its borders.<br /><br /> All flags at #NATO HQ at half-mast. Solidarity w/ #Turkey after the New Year #I
