The funeral of Tuncer Cihan, who lost his life in the armed attack at Santa Maria Church in Sarıyer, İstanbul on Sunday (January 28), was held and he was laid to rest in İstanbul.
The funeral ceremony, which took place at Nurtepe Djemevi, was attended by Cihan's family and relatives, as well as İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Massimiliano Palinuro, the spiritual leader of the Latin Catholic Community, and Niyazi Erten, the District Governor of Kağıthane.
Palinuro and İmamoğlu conveyed their condolences to the family of Cihan.
"Went to the church to hang out and spend time"
According to the news on Anadolu Agency, Palinuro said, "We need to pray. I apologize, I got very emotional. Our deceased brother was like a pure angel. He lost his life trying to save our congregation. We came to express our gratitude to his family. May God console the grieving family."
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Murat Cihan, the cousin of Tuncer Cihan, mentioned that Tuncer went to the church to hang out and spend time. He said, "He has an 80% disability report. What did those who did this gain? What did they achieve by killing a person who wouldn't harm even an ant? He was an angelic person. It was purely by chance that the bullet hit him. His misfortune was being there."
After the ceremony, Cihan's funeral was buried in Hasdal Cemetery.
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The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which claimed responsibility for the attack, stated that they carried out the attack in response to the call of ISIS leaders to target Jews and Christians everywhere. (TY/PE)
