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The pro-government Yeni Akit Daily took to Twitter to portray Mr Obama as the lone gunman responsible for the bloody attack, which left 39 dead. The controversial image showed an actual photo of Mr Obama next to a picture of the suspect, whose face had been altered to that of the outgoing US president. The picture, which was tweeted to the paper's 108,000 followers, was captioned: “Clearest photo of the murderer,” alongside a newspaper story saying: “Social media users say the US is behind the armed attack on Reina in Istanbul’s Ortakoy neighbourhood.”

TWITTER/YENI AKIT The newspaper has mocked up Barack Obama as the Istanbul nightclub attacker

TWITTER/YENI AKIT Yeni Akit's Twitter post went viral

Clearest photo of the murderer Yeni Akit

The image, which has been widely shared on social media, caused controversy online following the Turkish nightclub attack. Turkey has accused Mr Obama of knowing about the failed military coup, meddling in Turkish affairs and refusing to extradite Fethullah Gulen, 75. Turkey's President Erdogan blames Gulen for the military coup in July. They believe the Islamic cleric, who fled Turkey after accusing President Erdogan of corruption, had a network of hardline followers in all the nation's core institutions, such as the military, universities and police, who were ready to rise up and revolt when he gave the order. On Thursday, a bomb exploded in Turkey’s Izmir, a favourite hotspot with Britons, leaving at least 10 wounded and six dead, including two suspected terrorists. Two suspected terrorists were shot dead at the scene.

TWITTER Police at the scene of the Istanbul nightclub shooting

It comes just days after a lone gunman shot dead 39 people, including a policeman and security guard, in a New Year’s Eve massacre at the Reina club in Istanbul's well-to-do Ortakoy district on the banks of the Bosphorus. At least 600 people were inside when at least 180 bullets were sprayed at the unsuspecting crowd.

AFP Flowers pay tribute to the Reina nightclub victims