Who’s behind Istanbul airport attack?
The attack at Istanbul Ataturk Airport on June 28 has triggered debate over whether Ankara is having problems deciding the priorities in its struggle against the Kurdistan Workers Party and the Islamic State.
Over the past 12 months, 298 people have been killed and about 1,000 wounded in 17 terror attacks in Turkey. The attack at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport on the evening of June 28 was the sixth major terror attack in 2016.
What made this attack different from the others was its location. This is the third airport attack in Turkey’s long history of combating terror. In 1982, the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia attacked Ankara Esenboga Airport and killed nine people, and the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, which is affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), fired mortars at Sabiha Gokcen Airport in Istanbul in December 2015.
Last night's attack was the bloodiest and Turkey's first suicide attack at an airport.
In 2015, Ataturk Airport handled 62 million passengers. Its security measures make it one of the best-guarded airports in the world. However, the security perimeter, which had been recently expanded, created a severe breach in security, worsened by round-the-clock heavy traffic close to the arrival and departure terminals.
