Istanbul ( CNN ) -- Turkish authorities have brought the chief suspect in the murder of an American woman slain in Turkey to Istanbul after he was apprehended at a border crossing between Turkey and Syria on Sunday . The man suspected of killing Sarai Sierra , an American tourist who went missing on January 22 , was caught in the border province of Hatay , according to a statement by the Hatay governorate . The suspect , called `` Z.T . '' and also known as `` Laz Ziya , '' was caught `` in the Reyhanli District of our province by security forces , '' the statement said . Sierra , a mother and amateur photographer from Staten Island , New York , was found slain by a blow to the head on February 2 near the old city walls of Istanbul . After an investigation involving the interrogation of more than 20 suspects and the collection of blood samples from last known contacts , police identified Ziya as the primary suspect in the slaying . Turkish television showed video of police marching Ziya to an armored personnel carrier . After he was apprehended in Hatay , he was flown to Istanbul for processing late Sunday . In a strange twist to a mystery that has been front-page news for weeks in Turkey , it appears the suspect fled to neighboring Syria in an attempt to escape Turkish authorities . A purported videotaped confession made by the suspect before he was handed over to Turkish authorities has been distributed by the Turkish Internet news portal TimeTurk . In the statement , Ziya tells the camera he is speaking in Syria . The editor of TimeTurk says the video was taken near the Syrian city of Idlib 30 minutes before Ziya was handed over to Turkish authorities . It is not clear whether the confession can be legally admitted as evidence in court , because it is possible the suspect made the video under pressure or threats from his captors in Syria . `` I lost myself . I ca n't really remember how it happened , '' Ziya said in the video . `` I must have hit her on the head with a heavy object , '' he said , adding that he was under the influence of an `` extreme amount '' of paint thinner . `` When I came to , she was dead . I covered her up , '' he said . `` And for nine days , I walked around in the same area . When on the 10th day the police found the body , I had to escape to Syria . And now I have been caught in Syria . And I am being handed back to Turkey today , '' Ziya added . In the video , the suspect said he first fled to Karabuk , his hometown in the Black Sea region of Turkey , then to the border and into Syria . This is not the first time suspects wanted in Turkey have been handed over . Last week , Syria handed over at least five suspects in a deadly car bombing of a busy Turkey-Syria border gate . The February bombing killed at least 14 people and wounded nearly 30 . Turkey has close ties with Syrian rebel groups that control large amounts of territory in northern Syria . Turkey has provided medical care for wounded Syrian fighters , while also hosting more than 100,000 Syrian refugees in refugee camps . This week , Syrian opposition groups are gathering in the commercial capital of Istanbul to choose the leader of a proposed interim government . The delivery of suspects in Syria wanted by Turkish authorities twice in less than two weeks suggests armed groups inside Syria are cooperating closely with Turkish security forces .
He was captured in Turkey 's Hatay province and flown to Istanbul , authorities say . He appears to have fled to neighboring Syria in an attempt to escape Turkish authorities . The body of Sarai Sierra , a tourist who went missing in January , was found last month . Comment: