TURKISH authorities are closing in on the gunman who killed 39 people at an Istanbul nightclub, a senior official said, insisting his possible whereabouts and contacts had been established.

Turkish deputy prime minister Veysi Kaynak said the gunman who attacked Istanbul’s Reina nightclub during the New Year celebrations, is most probably from China’s Muslim Uighur minority and was a “specially trained member of a [terror] cell”.

“The security forces have determined his identity, his possible whereabouts have been determined ...[and] his contacts have also been determined,” he told the A Haber news channel. “The circle is closing in on him.”

Kaynak said authorities believe the man, whose name has not been revealed, is still in Turkey, but they have not ruled out the possibility that he escaped.