Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu revealed the identities of the terrorists that carried out the hostage attack in Istanbul's Çağlayan courthouse. It was later revealed that Şafak Yayla, one of the terrorists who carried out the courthouse attack, is the brother of Bulut Yayla, one of the planners of the suicide bomb attack by DHKP-C against the U.S. Embassy in Ankara that killed a security guard and injured a journalist, both Turkish nationals.

Bulut Yayla was designated as a terrorist and included into the terror list by the U.S. Department of State. He was caught by Turkish authorities in 2013 while trying to cross into Turkey from Greece illegally. Bulut Yayla was the area responsible of DHKP-C in Istanbul's Okmeydanı neighborhood, an area in which DHKP-C is very active, and only 2 kilometers away from Çağlayan courthouse.

Another brother of Şafak Yayla, Mehmet Yayla, was caught off the shores of Sakız Island in Aegean Sea in a boat with explosives, on his way to Istanbul to make a provocative protest. Mehmet Yayla was also involved with attacks carried out against AK Party headquarters and Ministry of Justice in 2013. Greece rejected Turkey's extradition request and Mehmet Yayla is currently serving jail time in Midilli Island.

Şafak Yayla was detained in January 2013 with the suspicion of planning a suicide bomb attack and was released from prison in December 2014. Yayla's parents had earlier spoken to Turkish media outlets, stating that all three children were deceived into joining DHKP-C.

The other terrorist who took part in the attack, Bahtiyar Doğruyol, was caught in northwestern province of Edirne while trying to cross into Greece illegally in 2012. Doğruyol was trying to go to Lavrion Camp, a refugee camp 40 km southwest of Athens, mainly used by PKK and DHKP-C to train newly recruits instead of harboring refugees. Doğruyol was discharged from prison a year ago.