Reina terrorist's second target was Cumhuriyet

Very important evidence has been accessed during the interrogation of Reina nightclub murderer Abdulkadir Masharipov, who was caught by Istanbul police on Jan. 16. His capture alive helped give information about several of his connections. If only the assassin of Russian Ambassador Andrey Karlov, Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, had been caught alive we could have learned of any connection between the Karlov assassination and the 2015 downing of the Russian jet. We could have learned who he took the order from and, most importantly, deciphered whether he was part of a FETÖ assassination team. 

According to information provided by Masharipov so far, there were three potential targets on the night of the Reina attack. One of them was the office of daily Cumhuriyet in Istanbul. When the Cumhuriyet address was given to him, it was defined as "the newspaper that insulted the prophet." But they decided not to attack the paper because there would not have been many people there on that night. So Masharipov was directed toward Reina.  

He killer checked three different addresses on Dec. 31. He went to Taksim Square and told his partners in Syria that the square would not be suitable for an attack. He told the headquarters in Syria that because of the strict security measures and because of the rain, turnout in Taksim would be low. 

In Syria he called Raqqa, speaking to the "emir" for Turkey, who wanted to stage an attack that would be heard worldwide. He then apparently made checks around the Cumhuriyet building in Istanbul's Şişli district. This could be verified by reviewing camera footage around the paper. 

Why Cumhuriyet? In the order sent from Raqqa, it is defined as "the newspaper that insulted the prophet." The order also makes a connection...