When Istanbul Ataturk Airport was attacked by three suicide bombers June 28, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim appeared on television and said, “Early signs indicate the Islamic State [IS]” was responsible. In the following days, further evidence and arrests by Turkish security forces confirmed a well-planned IS attack. In addition, on June 29, CIA Director John Brennan concurred with the Turkish authorities in an interview, also warning there could be similar attacks on American soil.

Yet, conservative, pro-Justice and Development Party (AKP) media outlets are presenting a rather different picture.

"The CIA was behind the attacks!” That was the headline of pro-AKP Islamist Yeni Akit daily on June 30. The headline was based on an opinion piece published the same day by the pro-government Takvim daily titled “CIA and the false flag again.” Takvim columnist Ergun Diler said men who have previously been connected to the CIA carried out all the previous attacks in Boston, Paris and Brussels.

With mind-numbing logic, Diler explains the situation as part of World War III, organized around false-flag operations of the CIA. In the piece, he also makes reference to undisclosed foreign experts who have argued that “Turkey is a stronghold of the CIA, where the agency can carry out an attack every other day.” Diler argues that three countries — Turkey, France and Russia — are paying the price for standing up against the United States.