At least five foreign nationals were killed, and 36 others were wounded this weekend in a suicide bomb attack against the northern Turkish city of Istanbul. The Turkish government has identified the bomber as a Turkish citizen with links to ISIS.
While the casualties haven’t all been identified, at least two of the slain held dual Israel and American citizenship, and one Iranian citizen was also killed. Reports out of Israel suggest there may have been a third Israeli citizen among the slain and 11 of the wounded were Israeli citizens.
Israel responded with a travel warning cautioning its citizens against unnecessary trips to Turkey while the threat of attacks remains, and the Erdogan government offered condolences to the Israelis for the casualties.
A flurry of recent attacks carried out by various groups within Turkey have fueled a growing sense of panic on the streets, and nations like Germany have been intermittently closing their embassies and other official buildings in Turkey over security threats.
ISIS has yet to formally claim credit for the Istanbul attack, which is unusual for the group as they generally are quick to brag about such incidents. Turkish officials blamed previous attacks in Ankara on the Kurdish PKK.
Israelis killed?
I call conspiracy!