A year of deadly attacks in Turkey
ISTANBUL, Turkey – Thirty-nine people were killed in Istanbul on Sunday when a gunman went on a shooting rampage in an upmarket nightclub as revelers celebrated the New Year.
It was a bloody start to 2017 in Turkey, which has suffered a year of attacks by Islamic State jihadists and Kurdish militants and a failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Following are the worst attacks in Turkey over the past year:
Nightclub terror
January 1: Seventy-five minutes after party-goers ring in the New Year, a gunman opens fire in the Reina nightclub on the banks of the Bosphorus, killing 39 people and injuring at least 65. The victims include nationals from several Arab states. Police have launched a manhunt for the assailant.
READ: Turkey’s president says nightclub attack sought to create chaos
Ambassador assassinated
December 19: Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, is shot dead at an Ankara art gallery by an off-duty policeman who claims he is acting to avenge the conflict in Syria, especially Aleppo. The government accuses the group of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed for the July 15 failed coup.
December 17: 14 soldiers are killed and dozens of other people wounded in a suicide attack targeting a military bus in the central city of Kayseri. The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), seen as a radical offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), claims responsibility.
December 10: Forty-four people are killed, mainly police, and 166 wounded when twin bombings struck Istanbul after a football match hosted by top side Besiktas. TAK claims it was behind the attacks.
November 4: Nine people, including two policemen, are killed in a car bombing at a police station in Diyarbakir, the main city in the Kurdish majority southeast. It is claimed by Islamic State and then TAK.
October 9: Eighteen people are killed when a van explodes near a police post in the southeastern district of Semdinli, a bombing blamed on the PKK.
August 26: 11 police officers are killed in a suicide car bombing in Cizre, a mainly Kurdish southeastern town on the Syrian border, which was claimed by the PKK.
August 20: 57 people, 34 of them children, die in an IS-linked bomb attack on a Kurdish wedding in the Turkish city of Gaziantep near the Syrian border. Erdogan blames the IS group.
Coup
July 15: Two hundred and forty eight people are killed, not including the plotters, in a failed coup bid to oust Erdogan the authorities blame on Gulen who Ankara says runs a terror group. Gulen denies the charges.
Istanbul airport targeted
June 28: 47 people are killed, including foreigners, and over 200 injured in a triple suicide bombing and gun attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport. There is no claim of responsibility but authorities say evidence points to IS.
June 7: At least seven police officers and four civilians die when a bomb rips through a police vehicle near the historic centre of Istanbul. The TAK claims the attack and warns tourists to stay away.
March 19: Three Israelis and an Iranian are killed and dozens injured in a suicide bombing targeting Istanbul shopping thoroughfare Istiklal Caddesi. The authorities blame IS.
March 13: 34 people are killed and dozens wounded in a suicide car bomb attack in Ankara. TAK claims the assault.
February 17: At least 28 people are killed and about 80 hurt in a suicide bombing targeting the Turkish military in Ankara. The attack is also claimed by TAK.
January 12: Twelve German tourists are killed in a suicide attack by a Syrian bomber in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet district, the ancient tourist heart of the city and home of the Blue Mosque. The prime minister said the bomber belonged to IS.
PREVIOUSLY: In the bloodiest attack in Turkey’s history, 103 people are killed and more than 500 wounded on October 10, 2015, in twin suicide bombings targeting a pro-Kurdish peace rally in Ankara. The authorities say IS was the main suspect.
