Moscow attackers not radicalized in Türkiye: Security sources

Two of the four ISIL-K gunmen who carried out the bloody terrorist attack in Moscow had stayed in Istanbul for a short time in the previous months, but they did not become radicalized during their stay in Turkish territory, Turkish security sources have said.

According to the sources, ISIL-K members Saidakram Rajabalizoda and Shamsidin Fariduni, both Tajikistan nationals, spent a couple of weeks in Istanbul before they committed the terror attack in Moscow which claimed the lives of at least 139 civilians.

Rajabolizada arrived in Istanbul on Jan. 5 and flew to Moscow on March 2 on the same plan with Fariduni who came to Istanbul in late January. Both men checked into different hotels in the city while the latter shared pictures from Istanbul on his social media account. Fariduni, in his testimony to the Russian authorities after he was arrested with other perpetrators, confessed that he went to Istanbul because his visa in Russia had expired.

"It's being assessed that these two persons have been radicalized in Russia," the security sources stressed, adding that the time they spent in Türkiye was so short for their radicalization. These persons could travel between Türkiye and Russia as there was no arrest warrant against them. The sources also recalled the fact all the perpetrators were living in Russia for a long time and their travel to Türkiye was just to extend their residence permit.

Four ISIL-K terrorists stormed a concert hall in a Russian suburb last week and brutally killed civilians. Some 139 people were killed and hundreds of others were injured.

Türkiye condemned the attack and offered cooperation in the fight against the terror, including the ISIL-K which has increased its attacks in the recent period. The group...