ISIS established it in Beylikdüzü: Santa Maria Church attack was planned in an illegal madrasa

Journalist İsmail Saymaz has revealed the details of the illegal madrasa and prayer room where the Santa Maria Church attackers also stayed. Appearing on the ROTA program broadcast on Halk TV, journalist İsmail Saymaz shared the details of the illegal madrasa established by ISIS in Beylikdüzü during the live broadcast.

İsmail Saymaz made the following statements during the live broadcast:

"It is a 3-story house in Gürpınar, Beylikdüzü. Its significance is this: It is the illegal madrasa where the 2 ISIS members who raided the Santa Maria Italian Church in Sarıyer, Istanbul, in February 2024, killing Tuncer Cihan and showering the church with bullets, stayed. This place is a madrasa run by these individuals, mostly Tajiks, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, and Tatars who are in the country illegally. This is a Salafi prayer room. It was established by ISIS sympathizers. There is no record of when it was established. The indictment for the Santa Maria case mentions this prayer room and madrasa, but does not mention when it was established."

"THEY ENTERED THE COUNTRY LEGALLY"

"There are two people who carried out the attack. Amirjon Kholikov and David Tanduev, both of Tatar descent. They came to Turkey through legal channels. They have residence permits. They have residency. When they arrived, they stayed in this madrasa. The following information appears in a statement I have in my possession."

"He goes to work in Kazakhstan and feels the desire to learn the Quran. He comes from Kazakhstan to Beylikdüzü to learn the Quran. They tell him, 'You can learn the Quran best in Iran.' He is caught in Van. From there, he comes to Kırklareli. There, he meets an ISIS member with the code name Abdurrahman. He sends him to this house in Beylikdüzü. Later, the same person comes to this house and sees Amirjon Kholikov, whose code name is Hamza. He says, 'He used to receive religious education like me and help out.' There are 20 children in this madrasa. They are also there illegally. They receive Quran education and stay as boarders. There are also adults among them. Among the adults are also ISIS attackers who carry out bombing operations.

THE PIRATE TAXI DETAIL

"They both stay in the madrasa and work as pirate taxi drivers using a taxi that ISIS smuggled in from Bulgaria. They use the same vehicle to go to the Santa Maria Church to carry out the attack. They carry out the attack on the church. They flee in the same vehicle and are later caught in Başakşehir."

DETAINED AND RELEASED

"The strange thing is this: this statement was taken in July 2023. That is, 7 months before the Santa Maria Church attack. Among those who were detained and released along with this guy is one of the attackers. In other words, unfortunately, our police and prosecutor's office identify the suspects. They identify the ISIS illegal madrasa. They detain them, release them, and 7 months later, they raid a church with a Polish-plated vehicle and commit a massacre. After the attack, this madrasa continued its operations."