HBSNews.com - In a press conference, Yildirim said all signs point to ISIS being responsible for the attack. Three attackers carrying weapons arrived in a taxi to Istanbul's Ataturk airport, one of the world's busiest airports.
Among the wounded are foreign nationals and police officers, Yildirim said. The airport has since been reopened.
There was no security lapse at the airport, Yildirim said. An airport security officer told ABC News that the first attacker tried to enter the airport with a gun, but was spotted as he went through security at the entrance of the airport.
Once he was spotted, he started to shoot and was then shot by officers. During the commotion, the second attacker began to shoot before blowing himself up, while the third attacker ran outside of the building and blew himself up just outside the airport in a place where taxis were waiting to transport passengers, the security officer said. A total of 49 ambulances were sent to the airport, according to Turkey's Health Ministry.
The attack took place around 10 p.m. local time, a busy time for the airport, with flights arriving from Europe and leaving for the Persian Gulf and other parts of the region.
Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a statement condemning the attack that "has no objective." The president also said the attack shows "terrorism strikes with no regard for faith and values," since it occurred during the holy month of Ramadan.
"We expect the international community, especially the Western countries including their administrations, parliaments, media organs and civil societies, to take a firm stand against terrorism," Erdogan said.
A senior U.S. official announced shortly after the attack that all scheduled flights to and from Istanbul have been suspended. Turkey's Ataturk airport is the 11th largest airport in the world, serving 61.8 million total passengers in 2015.
The attack comes one day after the U.S. State Department updated its travel warning for Turkey, advising that "foreign and U.S. tourists have been explicitly targeted by international and indigenous terrorist organizations" and mentioning "aviation services" along with other targets for extremists. In March the U.S. ordered the departure of family members of U.S. government personnel posted to the U.S. Consulate in Adana and family members of U.S. government civilians in Izmir province through July 26, 2016.
Turkey is one of the main European tourist destinations for Americans. A total of 181,298 U.S. tourists have arrived in Turkey so far this year, with 60,000 arriving last month alone.
All U.S. Chief of Mission personnel have been accounted for, according to the U.S. State Department, and the government is "making every effort to account for the welfare of U.S. citizens in the city.".
Turkey has been dealing with multiple security threats from the Kurdish separatist group the PKK, as well as ISIS. Earlier this month, a car bomb attack on a police bus killed seven officers and four civilians in central Istanbul. Today's attack was the fifth major one so far this year in the city, Turkey's largest.
Among the wounded are foreign nationals and police officers, Yildirim said. The airport has since been reopened.
There was no security lapse at the airport, Yildirim said. An airport security officer told ABC News that the first attacker tried to enter the airport with a gun, but was spotted as he went through security at the entrance of the airport.
Once he was spotted, he started to shoot and was then shot by officers. During the commotion, the second attacker began to shoot before blowing himself up, while the third attacker ran outside of the building and blew himself up just outside the airport in a place where taxis were waiting to transport passengers, the security officer said. A total of 49 ambulances were sent to the airport, according to Turkey's Health Ministry.
The attack took place around 10 p.m. local time, a busy time for the airport, with flights arriving from Europe and leaving for the Persian Gulf and other parts of the region.
Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a statement condemning the attack that "has no objective." The president also said the attack shows "terrorism strikes with no regard for faith and values," since it occurred during the holy month of Ramadan.
"We expect the international community, especially the Western countries including their administrations, parliaments, media organs and civil societies, to take a firm stand against terrorism," Erdogan said.
A senior U.S. official announced shortly after the attack that all scheduled flights to and from Istanbul have been suspended. Turkey's Ataturk airport is the 11th largest airport in the world, serving 61.8 million total passengers in 2015.
The attack comes one day after the U.S. State Department updated its travel warning for Turkey, advising that "foreign and U.S. tourists have been explicitly targeted by international and indigenous terrorist organizations" and mentioning "aviation services" along with other targets for extremists. In March the U.S. ordered the departure of family members of U.S. government personnel posted to the U.S. Consulate in Adana and family members of U.S. government civilians in Izmir province through July 26, 2016.
Turkey is one of the main European tourist destinations for Americans. A total of 181,298 U.S. tourists have arrived in Turkey so far this year, with 60,000 arriving last month alone.
All U.S. Chief of Mission personnel have been accounted for, according to the U.S. State Department, and the government is "making every effort to account for the welfare of U.S. citizens in the city.".
Turkey has been dealing with multiple security threats from the Kurdish separatist group the PKK, as well as ISIS. Earlier this month, a car bomb attack on a police bus killed seven officers and four civilians in central Istanbul. Today's attack was the fifth major one so far this year in the city, Turkey's largest.
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