Utrecht Tram Shooting: Turkish-born suspect arrested

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Utrecht Tram Shooting: Turkish-born suspect arrested

The Turkish origin accused had been detained previously on suspicion of being connected to Daesh

Tuesday March 19, 2019 10:55 AM, ummid.com News Network

The Hague (Netherlands): Gokmen Tanis, a 37-year-old Turkish man, has been arrested after three people were killed and five wounded, some seriously, in a shooting on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht.

Gokmen Tanis was found several hours after the attack in a building about two miles (3km) from the scene. Authorities said the attacker's motive was unclear, BBC reported.

The Turkish origin accused had been detained previously on suspicion of being connected to Daesh, after he went to Chechnya to fight.

Tanis is from Turkey’s central Yozgat province, the scene of several anti-Daesh operations in recent years. He has lived in the Netherlands since 1993. He was known to police for both minor and major crimes, including a shooting in 2013.

The shooting, three days after a gunman, identified as a white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, stormed into a mosque and an Islamic centre in Christchurch, New Zealand killing 50 Muslim worshipers, took place in Kanaleneiland, a quiet residential district on the outskirts of Utrecht with a large immigrant population.

"Erdogan slammed"

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was Monday criticized for using the New Zealand mosque terrorist’s video footage to inflame his supporters at election rallies.

The Turkish leader used the video footage, filmed by Brenton Tarrant as he killed 50 people in two mosques in Christchurch on Friday, at a series of election rallies the following day. He said Tarrant’s manifesto was to keep Turks from Europe.

Erdogan’s use of the video footage, which social media companies have been trying to block from their sites, was condemned in both New Zealand and Turkey. New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters raised the issue on a visit by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

“Anything of that nature that misrepresents this country, imperils the future and safety of the New Zealand people and our people abroad, and it’s totally unfair,” Peters said.

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