Paris, Nov 14 (AFP/APP):The city of Istanbul, which was shaken Sunday by a deadly explosion denounced as a “vile attack” by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, suffered a wave of attacks in 2016 and 2017.
– Shooting massacre at disco –
On January 1 2017, a man opens fire in the Reina discotheque, killing 39 people and wounding 79 others celebrating the New Year.
The Islamic State group claims responsibility for the attack.
After a vast manhunt, un Uzbek, Abdulkadir Masharipov, is arrested. He confesses but then denies it during a trial in February 2019.
In September 2020, he gets 40 life sentences, one for each life taken and another for the whole massacre.
– Double bombing at Besiktas stadium –
On December 10, 2016, a booby-trapped vehicle explodes and a suicide bomber blows himself up near two groups of policemen deployed for a match outside the Besiktas football team’s stadium, killing 47 people, including 39 police officers, and wounding 160 others.
The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a radical group linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), claims the attacks.
In May 2019, 14 defendants are found guilty in the case and sentenced to prison for life.
– Triple suicide attack at airport –
On June 28, 2016, three attackers open fire at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport before setting off their suicide bombs, killing 45 people, including 19 foreigners, and wounding 163 others.
No group claims responsibility for the attacks but Turkey blames the Islamic State (IS) group.
In November 2018, a Turkish court sentenced six suspected IS militants to life in jail over the attacks.
– Car bomb kills police –
In June 2016, six police officers and six other people are killed and 36 other people wounded in a car bombing targeting riot police in the historic neighbourhood of Beyazit. TAK claims responsibility.
– Suicide attack on Istiklal –
On March 19, 2016, a suicide attack on the famous pedestrian shopping area of Istiklal, kills four foreign tourists — three Israelis and one Iranian.
Thirty-nine other people, including 24 tourists, are wounded.
The authorities blame IS for the attack
– Suicide attack in Sultanahmet –
On January 12, 2016, an attacker sets off a suicide bomb amid a group of German tourists, killing 12 of them and wounding 15 other people.
The attack took place in the historic Sultanahmet neighbourhood, hundreds of metres from the world renowned Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque.
The authorities say the suicide bomber is a 28-year-old Syrian, an IS member, though the group never formally claims responsibility.
In January 2018, three presumed accomplices of the suicide bomber are jailed for life.
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