By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
ISTANBUL (Worthy News) – Turkish police have detained several suspects over their alleged involvement in the New Year’s Eve shooting of a Protestant church in Istanbul, Turkish officials announced Friday.
Security footage reviewed by Worthy News appeared to confirm the December 31 attack on the Çekmeköy branch of the Kurtuluş Kilisesi Derneği (Association of Salvation Church) denomination.
At least one bullet was shot from a car and “passed through the iron shutters and glass front, lodging in the wall,” witnesses said.
One of the assailants was heard shouting, “We will not allow you to brainwash our Muslim youth! O infidels, you will be defeated and gathered together and exiled to hell.”
The pastor, who wasn’t named publicly, “requests prayer after the building was shot at on the evening of December 31,” Christians told Worthy News.
In comments shared with Worthy News, the pastor noticed that the police “were quick to respond to the incident, and the neighbors have expressed their sadness over the event.”
SUSPECTS SEEN
Footage seen by Worthy News showed special police raiding a building before accompanying one of the suspects, a man in his 30s.
Two suspects were identified as 33-year-old Serkan P. and Veysi A. 33.
Veysi A. allegedly “confessed” that they went to the church and fired a shot, but Serkan A. reportedly suggested the attack wasn’t religiously motivated but “over a debt issue.”
A third suspect was later named V.A., who was 37 or 38 during his arrest. “It was determined that the incident was carried out by [these] three people in a commercial vehicle that came to the area,” said the Istanbul Governorship in charge of the Istanbul region.
“The individuals were referred to the courthouse after their procedures at the police station,” it added in comments monitored by Worthy News.
All three individuals had criminal records ranging from fraud to “intentential wounding” of one or more persons, officials said.
KEEPING FAITH
The church said it “is disturbed but is responding with faith that God will bring good out of the attack.”
This wasn’t the first attack against the church in the Çamlık Neighborhood of Istanbul’s Çekmeköy District, Worthy News learned.
The same Kurtuluş Kilisesi Derneği church there was previously targeted on December 18, 2023, when two assailants were caught on security cameras ripping the signs off of the church, Christians told Worthy News.
“The event was reported to police, who apprehended the perpetrators. The church has also received numerous threats through social media,” added Middle East Concern (MEC), an advocacy group supporting the church.
It comes amid broader concerns among rights activists about the treatment of devoted Christians in Turkey, a mainly Muslim nation, where there have been several sometimes deadly attacks against churches and missionaries, Worthy News documented.
In comments shared with Worthy News, Christians urged prayers that the “perpetrators will repent of their actions, God will encourage and strengthen the pastor and church, and that more people will become curious about Jesus Christ through this incident’s publicity.”
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
Israel expanded its military campaign against Hezbollah on Monday, striking more than 70 targets across Lebanon as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to increase pressure on the Iranian-backed terror group following a sharp rise in drone and rocket attacks on northern Israel.
A federal appeals court is weighing whether Kansas City can use its public accommodation ordinance to require Christian counselors to counsel gay married couples despite the counselors’ biblical convictions on marriage and sexuality.
Tens of thousands of evangelical Christians gathered in the Netherlands for one of Europe’s largest multi-day Christian events, with organizers and participants expressing hopes for spiritual revival in the nation and across Europe.
President Donald Trump pushed back Monday against sharp criticism from Republicans and former administration officials over a potential U.S.-Iran agreement, insisting that any final accord must prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon or it will not be signed.
President Donald Trump said Monday that countries involved in negotiations over Iran should be required to join the Abraham Accords, signaling that the White House is seeking to turn a possible Iran agreement into a wider regional realignment that includes normalization with Israel.
Tensions remained high in Serbia’s capital Belgrade on Sunday after at least tens of thousands of people demanded elections and rallied against what they view as the increasingly authoritarian rule of President Aleksandar Vučić, with violence erupting after the protest and more than 20 people arrested.
Investigations were ongoing Sunday into the killing of three senior Kuki-Thadou Christian church leaders by unidentified gunmen in India’s northeastern Manipur State, Christian investigators told Worthy News.