Qualla: 2016 Atatürk Airport Attack

2016 Atatürk Airport Attack: Introduction

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit OpenStreetMap contributors, Dr. BlofeldOpenStreetMap contributors, CC BY-SA 2.0. The evening of 28 June 2016 was a Tuesday, shortly before 10 o'clock at night, and Istanbul's Atatürk Airport was full. It was the holy month of Ramadan, and Terminal 2 — the international terminal — was crowded with travelers: people returning home, people setting out, people waiting in the particular suspension of an airport at night. At a security checkpoint, three men armed with automatic weapons and explosive belts began their attack. What followed in the next minutes killed 45 people and wounded more than 230 others. Three attackers also died. This is a record of what happened, and a memorial to those who lost their lives.

Image: OpenStreetMap contributors, Dr. BlofeldOpenStreetMap contributors | CC BY-SA 2.0

2016 Atatürk Airport Attack: The Night of the Attack

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Tasnim News Agency, CC BY 4.0. Shortly before 22:00 Istanbul time, two of the attackers approached the X-ray security checkpoint at Terminal 2 and opened fire. Police officers returned fire. The attackers detonated explosive devices on their persons. Security camera footage captured parts of the attack. In one...

Image: Tasnim News Agency | CC BY 4.0

2016 Atatürk Airport Attack: The People Who Were There

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Tasnim News Agency, CC BY 4.0. Atatürk Airport was, at the time, one of the busiest airports in Europe — a crossroads connecting East and West, handling millions of passengers each year. The people in Terminal 2 that evening came from many countries. Among the dead were Turkish citizens and foreign nationals f...

Image: Tasnim News Agency | CC BY 4.0

2016 Atatürk Airport Attack: Responsibility and Investigation

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Xecican Ferqin, Public domain. Turkey's then-Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım publicly accused ISIL of carrying out the attack. The group did not claim responsibility. CIA Director John O. Brennan stated that the attack bore the hallmarks of an ISIL operation. Turkish authorities confirmed that the three attacke...

Image: Xecican Ferqin | Public domain

2016 Atatürk Airport Attack: Aftermath and Memory

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Tasnim News Agency, CC BY 4.0. In the hours after the attack, all departing flights from Atatürk Airport were suspended. Arriving flights were diverted to Izmir and Ankara. The FAA briefly suspended Turkish airline flights to and from the United States. Governments around the world condemned the attack; at lea...

Image: Tasnim News Agency | CC BY 4.0

2016 Atatürk Airport Attack: The Airport Then and Now

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Tasnim News Agency, CC BY 4.0. Istanbul Atatürk Airport — formally known as Istanbul Atatürk Airport, ICAO code LTBA — was for decades Turkey's primary international gateway. Named for Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, it handled more than 60 million passengers annually in its peak years. Is...

Image: Tasnim News Agency | CC BY 4.0