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Istanbul airport attack: Why Turkey is being targeted

Security and ambulances block the road outside Turkey's largest airport, Istanbul Ataturk, after it was hit by a suicide bomb attack on June 28, 2016, Turkey.
Security and ambulances block the road outside Turkey's largest airport, Istanbul Ataturk, after it was hit by a suicide bomb attack on June 28, 2016, Turkey.
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Istanbul airport attack: Why Turkey is being targeted

Yesterday's suicide bombing at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport is the latest of seven attacks that have rocked Turkey in a year.

So far, 41 people were reported dead and 239 people injured, and 128 remain hospitalized. No entity has taken responsibility, but Turkish officials say the attack bear the hallmarks of ISIS.

In the past few months, Turkey has stepped up its pressure on the terrorist organization, by using artillery against them, cracking down on their finances and curbing their oil possession.

Ataturk airport is one of the busiest in the world, and the attack has sent shockwaves through the world. How will Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, respond to the attack?  With so many attacks in such a short period of time, how will he make sense of the Ataturk attack for the people of his country -- and the world?

Guest:

Amberin Zaman, a public policy scholar for the Wilson Center and former Economist correspondent for Turkey. She is also Turkish.