Gaziantep Bombing (2016)
The Gaziantep bombing on August 20, 2016, was a tragic attack targeting a Kurdish wedding celebration in Gaziantep, Turkey, resulting in over fifty fatalities and numerous injuries, many of whom were women and children. The Turkish government attributed the attack to the Islamist militant group ISIS, though no group publicly claimed responsibility. This incident occurred amid a backdrop of heightened violence in Turkey, where various terrorist attacks had been reported, particularly attributed to ISIS and Kurdish militant organizations like the PKK.
The bombing coincided with ongoing tensions in the region, including Turkey's military engagements against ISIS and the PKK, which had resumed hostilities after a failed cease-fire. Reports suggested that the bomber may have been a child, reflecting the disturbing trend of using young individuals in terrorist acts. The attack not only highlighted the immediate violence but also aimed to exacerbate the existing divisions between the Turkish government and Kurdish communities. Following the bombing, Turkish authorities initiated investigations to identify those responsible, while the broader conflict between Turkish forces and Kurdish militants continued to unfold.
Gaziantep Bombing (2016)
Date: August 20, 2016
Place: Gaziantep, Turkey
Summary
The Gaziantep bombing of August 2016 was an attack on a Kurdish wedding party in Gaziantep, Turkey, that resulted in more than fifty deaths and dozens of additional injuries. The Turkish government believed the attack was likely perpetrated by the Islamist terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), though no group came forward to claim responsibility.
Key Events
- January 12, 2016—Ten people, mainly tourists, are killed following a suicide bombing in one of Istanbul’s historic districts.
- February 17, 2016—A car bomb explodes near a bus carrying military personnel in Ankara, killing almost thirty people and wounding more than sixty others. The Turkish government believes the attacker had connections with ISIS.
- May 1, 2016—A car bomb outside a police headquarters kills two officers and wounds at least eighteen people in Gaziantep.
- June 28, 2016—Suicide bombings conducted at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport leave more than forty people dead; ISIS is blamed for the attack.
- August 20, 2016—Unknown suicide bomber attacks a wedding party in Gaziantep, killing more than fifty and wounding several others.
Status
As of October 2016, Turkish authorities had not released the name or affiliation of the individual or individuals who conducted the August 20 attack in Gaziantep. Turkey suffered numerous terrorist attacks in 2015 and 2016 likely perpetrated by both the Syrian terrorist group ISIS and Kurdish militant organizations such as the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the radical offshoot Kurdish Freedom Falcons (TAK). The government also faced an attempted coup from an offshoot of the Turkish military accusing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of authoritarianism and violating the civil rights of Turkish citizens. President Erdoğan has blamed the coup and other incidents of terrorism on Hizmet, an international Islamic movement originating in Turkey and considered a terrorist organization by the Turkish government.
In-Depth Overview
Since the 1970s, various groups of Kurdish militants have led uprisings with the goal of creating an independent Kurdish state. This long conflict has primarily involved the government of Turkey and the PKK. The government and the PKK began cease-fire negotiations in 2012 and established the cease-fire the following year, with remaining Kurdish forces announcing they would withdraw to Kurdish territories in northern Iraq. In 2014, peshmerga (Kurdish guerilla forces) began fighting the ISIS insurgency in the region.
The government of Turkey also began fighting ISIS targets in 2015 and the PKK accused Turkish forces of attacking PKK bases in Iraq and Syria. This conflict eventually led to both sides abandoning the cease-fire and renewed hostilities between Kurdish and Turkish forces. An offshoot of the PKK, called the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), has been one of the primary militant organizations accused of terrorist attacks in Turkey in 2015 and 2016. The TAK split from the PKK in 2004, but some in the Turkish government believe that the PKK had used the TAK to continue mounting attacks while claiming to adhere to the cease-fire agreement. In both 2015 and 2016, numerous terrorist attacks occurred across Turkey, especially in the nation’s largest cities, Ankara and Istanbul.
Gaziantep, a small city in southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border, was the site of two terrorist incidents in 2016. On May 1, 2016, a car bombing targeted a local police headquarters, killing two officers and wounding at least eighteen other people. The Turkish government suspected ISIS of carrying out the attack, though no group came forward to claim responsibility.
On August 20, 2016, at around 10:50 p.m. local time, an unknown attacker detonated an explosive vest at the site of a Kurdish wedding party in the Beybahce neighborhood of Gaziantep. Witnesses reported that the explosion occurred while guests were leaving the traditional henna party, where attendees gather to have their hands and feet decorated with dark dye, and that the remaining crowd consisted primarily of women and children. The day after the attack, Turkish officials announced that more than fifty people had been killed, with twenty-two of the victims under the age of fourteen and the youngest a three-month-old child.
Immediately after the attack, unsubstantiated information suggested that the bomber was between twelve and fourteen years of age, and President Erdoğan told reporters that the government suspected ISIS, as the organization has used child suicide bombers in the past and Kurdish fighters have been key in recent victories over ISIS in northern Syria. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim later told reporters that the government was uncertain if the bomber was a child and that the government had no specific evidence indicating which terrorist organization, if any, was responsible for the attack. However, commentators noted that ISIS has not traditionally claimed responsibility for attacks in Turkey, and instead possibly uses terrorism to try to incite further violence between Turkish Kurds and the government by making it appear that either the government or Kurdish independence organizations were conducting attacks. Mahmut Togrul, a representative of the Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which had recently joined in the fight with ISIS at the Turkish border, told reporters that many of the wedding attendees were members or supporters of the HDP party. Regardless, Turkish government representatives declared that efforts were still being dedicated to determining who was behind the attack.
Key Figures
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: President of Turkey.
Mahmut Togrul: Local member of parliament from the HDP.
Binali Yildirim: Prime minister of Turkey.
Bibliography
Almukhtar, S., et al. (2016, August 21). Wedding bombing is the latest in a series of deadly terror attacks in Turkey. TheNew York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/06/28/world/middleeast/turkey-terror-attacks-bombings.html
Arango, T., & Yeginsu, C. (2016, August 21). Syria’s horrors visit Turkey again as bomber attacks Kurdish wedding. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/22/world/europe/turkey-wedding-attack-isis-blamed.html
Hume, T., Sariyuce, I., & Sterling, J. (2016, August 22). Turkey backtracks on age of wedding bomber. CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/22/asia/turkey-gaziantep-blast/
Kenyon, P., & Dwyer, C. (2016, August 20). Turkish officials say at least 54 killed, scores injured in wedding bombing. NPR. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/08/20/490779707/turkish-officials-say-at-least-22-killed-94-injured-in-wedding-bombing
Letsch, C. (2016, August 22). Erdoğan Blames Isis for suspected suicide attack at wedding in Turkey. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/20/several-dead-in-suspected-terrorist-blast-at-wedding-in-turkey
Peker, E. (2016, August 23). Turkey struggles with wedding bombing probe as threats mount. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/turkey-strikes-islamic-state-targets-after-wedding-bombing-1471948983