GUN MAN DISGUISES AS SANTA CLAUS KILLS MANY IN ISTANBUL NIGHT CLUB

Turkish police have launched a huge manhunt for the gunman who stormed a nightclub in Istanbul during New Year celebrations and killed 39 people before leaving his weapon behind. 

The gunman, who appeared to be dressed in a Santa Claus hat, opened fire in the Reina nightclub in Istanbul's Ortaköy district sending terrified revellers diving into the Bosphorus River for cover.

A further 69 people are thought to have been wounded in the attack, which happened in the early hours of this morning. 

It is unclear who carried out the shooting, however recent terror attacks in Turkey have been carried out by groups such as ISIS and Kurdish militants. 

Already people in the city have started burying the dead, just 13 hours after the attack as per Muslim tradition which dictates people should be buried as soon as possible after their death.

And Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has revealed that the gunman left his weapon inside the venue and escaped by 'taking advantage of the chaos' that ensued.

But he also said there was no truth to reports that the attacker wore a Santa Claus costume, despite the CCTV footage from inside the club. 

Fifteen of the casualties are believed to be foreign nationals, including one Israeli woman and people from Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Lebanon and Libya. 

The gunman was described as raining down 'a hail of bullets' on the New Year revellers and is still on the run.  

And now Turkey's president Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to fight to the end against all forms of attack by terror groups and their backers.

In a statement he said: 'As a nation, we will fight to the end against not just the armed attacks of terror groups and the forces behind them, but also against their economic, political and social attacks.

'They are trying to create chaos, demoralize our people, and destabilize our country with abominable attacks which target civilians. 

'We will retain our cool-headedness as a nation, standing more closely together, and we will never give ground to such dirty games.'

While the governor of Istanbul Vasip Sahin has described the shooting as a terrorist attack. He revealed that a police officer was among those shot.

He said: 'Unfortunately (he) rained bullets in a very cruel and merciless way on innocent people who were there to celebrate New Year's and have fun.' 

Interior minister Suleyman Soylu said the attacker has not been identified and is still at large.