3 at Istanbul airport kill 36

147 injured; bombers die also in blasts

Travelers embrace early today as they wait outside Istanbul’s Ataturk airport after Tuesday’s suicide attack. Officials said it was likely that the Islamic State group was behind the attack.
Travelers embrace early today as they wait outside Istanbul’s Ataturk airport after Tuesday’s suicide attack. Officials said it was likely that the Islamic State group was behind the attack.

ISTANBUL -- Three suicide bombers targeted the international terminal of Istanbul's Ataturk Airport on Tuesday, killing at least 36 people and wounding many others, Turkish officials said.

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AP

Rescue teams gather Tuesday evening outside Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport. Officials said none of the three attackers managed to get past security checks.

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Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

A map showing the location of Ataturk Airport in Istanbul.

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Associated Press

Security and rescue personnel gather outside Istanbul's Ataturk airport, early Wednesday, June 28, 2016. Two explosions have rocked Istanbul's Ataturk airport Tuesday, killing several people and wounding scores of others, Turkey's justice minister and another official said. A Turkish official says two attackers have blown themselves up at the airport after police fired at them. The official said the attackers detonated the explosives at the entrance of the international terminal before entering the x-ray security check. Turkish authorities have banned distribution of images relating to the Ataturk airport attack within Turkey. TURKEY OUT

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AP

A woman stands outside the airport in Istanbul on Tuesday. “There was blood on the ground,” a German girl said. “Everything was blown up to bits. … If we had arrived two minutes earlier, it could have been us.”

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said 36 were dead as well as the three bombers. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said 147 were wounded.

There appeared to be no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Yildirim said all initial indications pointed to the Islamic State group.

"The findings of our security forces point at the Daesh organization as the perpetrators of this terror attack," Yildirim told reporters at the airport, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. "Even though the indications suggest Daesh, our investigations are continuing."

The victims included some foreigners, Yildirim said. The Dogan news agency said a plane carrying Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama was landing at the airport when the attack occurred but he and his entourage were safe.

Yildirim said the attackers arrived at the airport in a taxi and blew themselves up after opening fire.

Another Turkish official said two of the attackers detonated explosives at the entrance of the international arrivals terminal after police shot at them. The third attacker blew himself up in the parking lot.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations and cited Interior Ministry information, said none of the attackers managed to get past security checks at the terminal's entrance.

Turkish airports force passengers to undergo security checks at the entrance of terminal buildings and before entry to departure gates.

Yildirim insisted that there was no security lapse at the airport but said the fact that the attackers were carrying weapons "increased the severity" of the attack.

Yildirim said air traffic, which was suspended after the attack, had resumed later Tuesday. The U.S. initially halted flights between Istanbul and American airports but lifted the order several hours later, an official said. The decision to lift the order was made in coordination with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, the official said.

Yildirim called for national unity and "global cooperation" in combating terrorism.

"This [attack] has shown once again that terrorism is a global threat," Yildirim said. "This is a heinous planned attack that targeted innocent people."

He suggested that the attack was linked to what he said was Turkey's success against Kurdish rebels as well as steps Ankara took Monday toward mending strained ties with Israel and Russia.

"It is meaningful that this heinous attack came at a time when we have become successful in the fight against separatist terrorism ... and at a time when we started a process of normalizing ties with our neighbors," Yildirim said.

Turkey also is a member of the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State. Turkey allows U.S. aircraft to use Incirlik air base to fly bombing raids on the jihadis in Syria.

Authorities have blamed the Islamic State for several major bombings over the past year, including on the capital Ankara, as well as attacks on tourists in Istanbul.

Turkey has stepped up controls at airports and land borders and deported thousands of foreign fighters but has struggled to tackle the threat of Islamic State militants while also conducting security operations against Kurdish rebels, who have also been blamed for recent deadly attacks.

On Jan. 12, an attack that Turkish authorities blamed on the Islamic State claimed the lives of a dozen German tourists visiting Istanbul's historic sites. On March 19, a suicide bombing rocked Istanbul's main pedestrian street, killing five people, including the bomber, whom the authorities identified as a Turk linked to the Islamic State.

In October, twin suicide bombings hit a peace rally outside Ankara's train station, killing 102 people. There was no claim of responsibility, but Turkish authorities blamed the attack on a cell of the Islamic State.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the attack, saying he hoped it will be "a turning point in the world, and primarily for the Western states, for a joint struggle against terror organizations." In a statement, he added that the attack "revealed the dark face of terror organizations targeting innocent civilians."

In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the United States remains steadfast in its support for Turkey, a NATO ally and partner, "along with all of our friends and allies around the world, as we continue to confront the threat of terrorism."

'Blood on the ground'

Istanbul's Ataturk Airport was the 11th-busiest airport in the world last year, with 61.8 million passengers, according to Airports Council International. It is also one of the fastest-growing airports in the world, seeing 9.2 percent more passengers last year than in 2014.

Roads around the airport were sealed off to regular traffic after the attack, and several ambulances could be seen driving back and forth. Hundreds of passengers were flooding out of the airport, and others were sitting on the grass.

Hevin Zini, 12, had just arrived from Duesseldorf, Germany, with her family and was in tears from the shock of the attack.

"There was blood on the ground," she said. "Everything was blown up to bits. ... If we had arrived two minutes earlier, it could have been us."

Two South African tourists, Paul and Susie Roos, were at the airport and were to fly home at the time of the explosions.

"We came up from the arrivals to the departures, up the escalator when we heard these shots going off," Paul Roos said. "There was this guy going roaming around. He was dressed in black, and he had a handgun."

People across Istanbul expressed shock and frustration at the attack. Ahmet Samanci, 27, a graduate student waiting for a ferry, said he had been at the airport at 5 a.m. to pick up his uncle. "How can people come to Turkey, and for what, if there is no security?"

Information for this article was contributed by Zeynep Bilginsoy, Suzan Fraser, Dominique Soguel, Bram Janssen, Scott Mayerowitz and staff members of The Associated Press; by Ceylan Yeginsu and Sabrina Tavernise of The New York Times; and by Erin Cunningham of The Washington Post.

A Section on 06/29/2016

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