The man suspected of killing 39 people at an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Eve has claimed he received the order to attack from the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) in Syria, Turkish media reported Wednesday (January 18th).

Turkish authorities on Monday detained Abdulkadir Masharipov, 34, who spent 17 days on the run following the attack claimed by ISIL, AFP reported. They also arrested an Iraqi man and three women from Egypt, Senegal and Somalia.

Officials identified the primary suspect as an Uzbek national who trained in Afghanistan, saying he confessed to carrying out the attack and that his fingerprints matched those of the attacker at the scene.

The man told police he entered Turkey through Iran in January 2016 and moved to the central city of Konya, the Hurriyet newspaper reported.

He told Turkish police that when he was in Konya, an order came from the Syrian city of al-Raqa for him to carry out an attack in Istanbul's Taksim Square, the newspaper said.

He said he moved to Istanbul on December 16th to scout out a location, but decided against Taksim Square due to the intensive security measures in place there. He then re-established contact with the person who gave him the order, and was ordered to find a new target, ultimately settling on the Reina nightclub.

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said he hoped the man's capture would expose forces behind him.

"We are hoping to reveal all the details of who the main force is behind him, who guided the assailant or assailants," he said, quoted by Turkish news agency Anadolu.