Turkey: Police have arrested a teenager who attacked at least five people with a knife at a mosque in the country’s northwest on Monday. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Tuesday that an investigation had begun but did not elaborate on the motive behind the attack in the city of Eskişehir. Local media have speculated that the attack, which the teenager broadcast live, may have been influenced by video games. The attacker, wearing a helmet and a bulletproof jacket, carried out the attack in the mosque’s tea garden. He was captured after a police chase, according to the Eskişehir governor’s office. Local media reported that the 18-year-old suspect, identified as Arda K., broadcast the attack live on X. State-run Anadolu Agency reported that five injured individuals were hospitalized, two of them in critical condition. Other outlets said seven people were injured.
Habertürk and other media reported that the attacker may have been influenced by video games.
In addition to the bulletproof jacket and helmet, photos circulated showed him wearing glasses over the mask, which completely hid his face. News sites claimed he was wearing a “black sun” on his chest, a Nazi symbol made up of multiple swastikas. He also had an axe at his waist, but according to local media it did not appear that he used it. The attacker did not shout or express any motivation for his actions, with the daily Cumhuriyet reporting that his appearance suggested he was “influenced by war games”. Turkey, among other countries, has seen a spate of knife attacks in recent months.
