Turkish riot police arrest a protester attempting to defy a ban and march on Taksim Square in Istanbul, on May 1, 2017. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

ISTANBUL, May 9 (Xinhua) -- A Turkish prosecutor on Tuesday asked for 40 times aggravated life sentences plus 1,540 to 2,370 years in jail for the attacker on a nightclub in Istanbul on first day of this year, who gunned down 39 people in a shooting spree, local media reported.

Abdulkadir Masharipov, a Uzbek national, is blamed by the Turkish authorities for the mass shooting at Istanbul's Reina nightclub early on New Year's Day that wounded 69 others.

Masharipov was charged mainly with "attempting to remove the constitutional order," "deliberately killing and deliberately attempting to kill" and being a member of an armed terrorist organization, the Hurriyet daily said.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility soon after the shooting spree, and Masharipov was captured after more than two weeks on the run.

The prosecutor demanded the same penalty for Zarina Nurullayeva, wife of the assailant, Hurriyet said.

For the other 51 suspects currently under detention, the prosecutor demanded an aggravated life sentence plus 7.5 to 15 years in jail for each of them over charges of "attempting to remove the constitutional order" and being a member of a terrorist organization, according to press reports.