Istanbul, 28 January 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Two masked men killed one person at a Catholic church in Istanbul on Sunday, the Interior Ministry said.

The two men attacked and killed the individual with a weapon, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on the X platform, formerly Twitter.

The attackers were on the run.

Images from the DHA news agency, said to have been from a surveillance camera outside the church, showed two people dressed in black and wearing black masks slowly approaching the building.

The Catholic Church of Santa Maria is located in the Sariyer district of Istanbul.

The mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoğlu, condemned the attack.

Pope Francis expressed his solidarity with the community in Istanbul during Sunday prayers in St Peter's Square in Rome.

Turkey is 99% Muslim, with a Christian population of about 180,000 people, according to state news agency Anadolu.