President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Wins Reelection in Turkey

The idea of "reelection" in a country like Turkey is essential meaningless. The electoral process isn't "free and fair."

At the New York Times, "Turkey’s Erdogan Has Won the Sweeping Powers He Says He Needed. Now What?":

ANKARA, Turkey — With his victory in Sunday’s elections, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken his place among the world’s emerging class of strongman rulers, nailing down the sweeping powers he has insisted he needs to address Turkey’s numerous challenges, at home and abroad.

Now, all he needs to do is deliver.

“He won on a knife-edge,” said Ugur Gurses, a former banker who writes for the daily newspaper Hurriyet. “But now he has in his lap all the problems.”

Mr. Erdogan is contending with an array of economic troubles, an increasingly disgruntled populace and deteriorating relations with Turkey’s Western allies. Among the many problems Mr. Erdogan faces is one fundamental roadblock: His foreign policy is fighting with his economic needs.

His increasingly authoritarian, nationalist and anti-Western bent is alienating foreign investors, which is hurting the Turkish lira. As the currency plunges, domestic capital flees. And he is newly reliant on a nationalist party that enabled him to maintain his majority in Parliament but promises to reinforce all those tendencies, as well as his hard line against the Kurdish minority.

The lira briefly rose with the news of Mr. Erdogan’s re-election, and his most senior economic adviser posted a message on Twitter on Sunday night: “This sets the stage for speeding up #reforms.”

The economy is Mr. Erdogan’s most pressing problem, but analysts express doubt that he will be able to perform the necessary surgery and introduce needed austerity measures with municipal elections looming in March 2019.

“Now the first challenge is the deterioration of the economy, and he has no means, no perspective to change the course of events,” said Kadri Gursel, a columnist for the newspaper Cumhuriyet, who was imprisoned by Mr. Erdogan for 11 months...

Keep reading.

On Twitter, Claire Berlinski --- who's a very smart cookie --- argues Turkey's a precursor to U.S. authoritarianism. Trump's out of office in 2025, if he wins reelection. So, you'd have to see Trumpism continue as an alleged political model of authoritarianism if Berlinski's predictions are to come true. I'm not so sure, because Turkey's basically a developing country, without a democratic (i.e., "liberal" political culture), and bereft of the kind of institutional republican safeguards inherent to the American constitutional regime. If authoritarianism comes, it's going to be through far-left fascism, IMHO.

More on that later, since everyone's talking about the so-called coming civil war. See this tweet, for example.

Orhan Pamuk, Snow

A winner of the Nobel Prize in literature.

At Amazon, Orhan Pamuk, Snow.

At Least 35 Gunned Down in Istanbul Nightclub Massacre

Turkey is a mess.

It's a jihad nightmare.

At USA Today:

UPDATE: At least 39 killed in Istanbul nightclub attack, official says. https://t.co/P6Oo3BjIg0

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 1, 2017

Gunman who attacked #Istanbul nightclub still at large. https://t.co/3Trho4gefr

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 1, 2017

Fall of Aleppo is Huge Gift to Islamic State

From Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassan, at the Daily Beast, "The Fall of Aleppo is a Huge Gift to ISIS":

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the “Caliph Ibrahim” of the so-called Islamic State, had an excellent week last week.

The fall of Aleppo to a consortium of Iranian-built militias backed by Russian airpower and special forces constitutes not only a loud victory for Damascus but also a quieter one for ISIS, or the Islamic State, which mounted a surprise attack that retook the ancient city of Palmyra.

The contrast could not have been starker or a more clear vindication of one of ISIS’s longest-running propaganda tropes: the “infidels” and “apostates” will do nothing to save Sunni Arabs from the pillage, rape, and barrel bombs of the Russians, Alawites, and Shia. But Aleppo’s fall also buttresses one of the lesser-scrutinized claims made by ISIS’s former spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, shortly before his demise.

In May, months before he was taken out by a U.S. airstrike, Adnani issued what would turn out to be a final communiqué refuting a common Sunni criticism of ISIS, namely that the group’s takeover of Sunni towns and cities invariably brought only devastation. See Fallujah and Ramadi. For Adnani, however, such devastation was never the fault of ISIS, as rival jihadist enterprises had discovered at their peril.

“If we knew that any of the righteous predecessors surrendered a span of land to the infidels, using the claim of popular support or to save buildings from being destroyed or to prevent bloodshed, or any other alleged interest,” he said, “we would have done the same as the Qa’idah of the Fool of the so-called Ummah.” Only steadfastness, even in the face of overwhelming odds, would restore Sunni dignity.

Thanks to Bashar al-Assad, Vladimir Putin, and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—not to say Barack Obama—Adnani now gets to play the posthumous prophet. Rather than die fighting for Aleppo, the Free Syrian Army (and its Western backers), plus rival Islamist or jihadist groups such the Syrian al Qaeda franchise Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, negotiated the terms of their surrender through a series of failed and humiliating “ceasefires” and evacuations, which are in fact forced population transfers. And Aleppo was still pulverized.

The loss will be compounded by the sectarian context. Aleppo fell to what Der Spiegel correspondent Christoph Reuter once aptly called the “first international Shia jihad in recent history,” led by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and relying largely on a patchwork of guerrilla fighters from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon, and Iraq. This is precisely what Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian founding father of ISIS, wanted. He once described the Shia as “the insurmountable obstacle, the prowling serpent, the crafty, evil scorpion, the enemy lying in wait, and biting poison… Whoever takes the time to look carefully at the situation will realize that Shiism is the greater danger threatening us and the real challenge we must confront.” And the only way to confront this enemy in Iraq was to render Sunnis hopeless that anyone else would, by attacking the Shia so that the Shia took revenge by attacking the outnumbered Sunnis.

In Syria, the Zarqawi thesis is even more relevant, as the country is a Sunni majority one and is now subject to occupation by a minority. And as bad as the physical collapse of the symbolic citadel of Syria’s revolution is, worse still is the chauvinist triumphalism attending it, which plays directly into the Zarqawi strategy.

Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, one of the Iraqi militias which the United Nations accused of murdering 85 civilians, including women and children, broadcast a song on an affiliated Iraqi TV channel. “Aleppo is Shia,” it ran. In his Friday sermon, delivered in Tehran, Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani declared the “liberation” of the city from “infidels”—using more or less the same language of sectarian incitement that ISIS reserves for the Kashani’s coreligionists. In this case, the cleric was declaring all 150,000 Sunnis who’d been besieged for months in East Aleppo, and now driven from their homes, godless. Even he must be aware of the lasting repercussions of such imprecations.

Rhetorical provocation has also been met by the visual kind. Images circulating on social media to show Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s spymaster and head of the expeditionary Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, treading the rubble in Aleppo in an unmistakable show of who was really responsible for the siege and recapture. (Bashar al-Assad, the nominal sovereign of “all of Syria,” is nowhere to be seen on this hollowed-out and Iranian-occupied battlefield.) Any of these photographs could easily grace the forthcoming issue of Rumiyah, ISIS’s propaganda magazine...

Keep reading.

The idea is that the Sunnis will be so heavily wiped out that they'll rise up and join arms with the most murderous thugs of Islamic State. That's why the fall of Aleppo's a gift to ISIS.

Soner Cagaptay, The New Sultan

From Soner Cagaptay, a Turkish-American political scientist based in Washington, The New Sultan: Erdogan and the Crisis of Modern Turkey.

Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, Assassinated in Ankara (VIDEO)

Oh boy.

I'm just now logging onto the news, and it's not good.

There's video at Ruptly, "Turkey: Assassination of Russian ambassador caught on camera," and CNN, "Turkish media: Russian ambassador shot."

Also at ABC News, "Russian Ambassador Killed by Gunman RAW VIDEO."

At the Telegraph U.K., "Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov shot dead by police officer in Ankara who shouted 'Aleppo, revenge'":

Russia’s ambassador to Turkey was shot dead on Monday by an assassin who told him: “We die in Aleppo, you die here.”

The gunman – an off-duty policeman – opened fire at an art gallery in Ankara as Andrei Karlov was making a speech, then stood triumphantly over his body shouting “revenge for Syria and Aleppo”.

Photographs taken by an Associated Press photographer who kept his finger on the shutter while others dived for cover captured the aftermath of a murder which Russia described as a “terrorist act”.

The murder followed days of protests in Turkey over Russia’s role in Syria as a backer of President Bashar al-Assad and came on the eve of talks in Moscow about the future of Syria involving Russia, Iran and Turkey, which will still go ahead today.

The Turkish foreign ministry insisted it would not allow the murder to “cast a shadow” over Turkey’s improving relations with Russia.

The killer was named on Monday night as Mevlut Mert Altintas, a 22-year-old riot squad police officer who has been based in Ankara for the past two years.

He shouted “Allahu Akbar” – God is great – as he pulled the trigger, but was unclear whether he was inspired by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) or the rebels who have finally been crushed in Aleppo after four years of war.

Reports in Turkey suggested he recited a message in Arabic similar to a phrase associated with the rebel group Al Nusra, the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda.

He was shot dead by police in a shoot-out that lasted 15 minutes. Three other people were wounded in the attack.

President Putin spoke on the phone to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after the shooting and Moscow said it was “a tragic day in the history of our country and Russian diplomacy”.

Russia and Turkey, which back opposing sides in the Syrian civil war, had entered a diplomatic crisis when the Turkish air force shot down a Russian jet in November 2015, but in recent months Mr Putin and Mr Erdogan have been in regular contact, and have held talks about a general ceasefire in Syria.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: "We qualify what happened as a terrorist act. The murderers will be punished.

"Today this issue will be raised at the UN Security Council. Terrorism will not win out."

More.

Also at Memeorandum.

ADDED: At Pamela's, "“Allahu Akbar!” Jihad Assassin of Russian Ambassador was Member of Erdogan’s Special Ops."

U.S. Resumes Military Operations at Incirlik Air Base Following Attempted Coup in Turkey (VIDEO)

Following-up from yesterday, "Stability in Turkey is Key Strategic Goal of U.S. Foreign Policy."

At Legal Insurrection, "UPDATE: Operations Resume at Incirlik Air Base."

Stability in Turkey is Key Strategic Goal of U.S. Foreign Policy

Following-up, "Turkey Coup d'État Risks Major Ramifications for U.S. Foreign Policy (VIDEO)," and "Turkey's Instability Threatens to Weaken the War on Terror."

A great piece, from Tracy Wilkinson and W.J. Hennigan, at the Los Angeles Times, "Straddling East and West, Turkey is a critical U.S. ally in fight against Islamic State":

Straddling East and West, #Turkey is a critical U.S. ally in fight against #IslamicState. https://t.co/UVcwAYi6sl

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) July 17, 2016

Dramatic @LATimes front page extra today. #Turkey pic.twitter.com/xA76Dv6q0L

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) July 16, 2016

The sprawling nation of Turkey is one of the United States’ most important and critically strategic allies, straddling the divide between the Middle East and the West.

As the only majority-Muslim member of NATO, Turkey has lent its soil to U.S. air bases, supported American military operations in key conflicts — such as Syria today and the Balkans in the 1990s — and served, until recent years, as a rare friendly interlocutor between Muslim nations and Israel.

But Turkey has also been a complicated and prickly ally, and more so as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan deepened his autocratic hold on power.

Turkey’s stability and the friendliness of its military toward the West are also of vital importance to the U.S. and for countries throughout Europe.

Turkey has been a NATO ally since 1952, and U.S. warplanes have used Incirlik Air Base in the south during the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

An estimated 1,800 U.S. military personnel are assigned to the base and the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, the capital.

Security at Incirlik is of critical importance for the U.S. military because there is a stockpile of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons at the base.

The B61 thermonuclear weapon is the last of its kind, the only tactical nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal. Unlike strategic weapons, designed to destroy cities and hardened military targets, the tactical weapons are intended for use on a battlefield, delivered by aircraft at treetop level or from high altitudes.

The exact number of B61 bombs at Incirlik is classified, but arms control analysts estimate there are about 50 deployed there.

With  the second largest army in NATO, Erdogan was initially hesitant to take part in the U.S-led effort against Islamic State militants in Syria. For Erdogan, the greater goal was ousting Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Erdogan was accused in some U.S. circles of turning a blind eye toward the threat of Islamic State.

However, after a series of high-profile suicide attacks in Turkish cities, Erdogan agreed a year ago to allow U.S. warplanes to fly combat sorties from Incirlik.

Since then, the intensity of the U.S.-led air war in Syria increased sharply because the flight time into Syria was drastically reduced compared with using other, more distant U.S. bases. The Pentagon in March ordered military family members to leave Incirlik due to the rising risk of possible terror attacks against Americans at the base.

Turkey has also begun to clamp down on smuggling routes along its 500-mile border with Syria that Islamic State militants use to move fighters, money and weapons -- especially along a porous 60-mile stretch known as the Manbij Pocket.

Thousands of foreign fighters have slipped across the border amid the maze of supply lines that go through Turkey to join the various militant factions in the multi-sided Syrian war.

The U.S.-led coalition, with Turkey's help, is in the midst of a massive, months-long operation to close the Manbij Pocket. Since the operation began, coalition warplanes have launched about 400 airstrikes to support ground forces known as the Syrian Arab Coalition to push the last remaining Islamic State fighters from the area...

Still more.

Turkey's Instability Threatens to Weaken the War on Terror

Following-up from yesterday, "Turkey Coup d'État Risks Major Ramifications for U.S. Foreign Policy (VIDEO)."

At the Wall Street Journal, "Turkish Instability Threatens to Hamper Battle on Terror":

An attempted military coup in Turkey introduces the prospect of prolonged instability in a key U.S. ally that could undermine one of Washington’s international priorities: the battle against the Islamic State terrorist organization.

Obama administration officials struggled to respond to the unexpected attempt Friday to unseat Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Mr. Erdogan, on vacation when the coup began, returned to Istanbul early on Saturday, and forces supporting him said they were close to putting it down.

But whether successful or not, the coup raises new questions about Mr. Erdogan, who in recent months has shown a greater resolve to confront Islamic State, which is also called Daesh or ISIS.

Amid the race of developments late Friday, the U.S. called for the Turkish public and military to “support the democratically elected government” in the country. But the White House declined to make any further comments on the crisis, suggesting President Barack Obama wanted to keep his options open in Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The U.S. has a major air base in south-central Turkey that it has used to strike Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria.

Washington appeared to be facing two bleak outcomes in Muslim-majority Turkey in the coming month. The military could succeed in overthrowing Mr. Erdogan, resulting in unrest if the leader’s supporters, many of them religious conservatives, take to the streets.

Conversely, Mr. Erdogan could hold on to power but rule in an increasingly paranoid and authoritarian manner. He has increasingly sought control of the major institutions inside Turkey, including the media, judiciary and security forces...

Keep reading.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Looks to Restore Control After Attempted Coup in Turkey (VIDEO)

Here's my post from last night, "Agence France-Presse Updates on Coup Attempt in Turkey."

Events were moving very quickly. Shortly after I posted it looked like Erdoğan was bringing things back in control. He flew into Istanbul's airport and went on television for a national address.

The nation's capital is in Ankara, however, so it remains to be seen if Erdoğan's restored control at the government traditional seat of power.

At the New York Times, "Turkey Detains Thousands of Military Personnel After Attempted Coup: 265 Killed and Many More Wounded as Factions Clash":

ISTANBUL — Turkey’s government rounded up thousands of military personnel on Saturday who were said to have taken part in an attempted coup, moving swiftly to re-establish control after a night of chaos and intrigue that left hundreds dead.

By noon, there were few signs that those who had taken part in the coup attempt were still able to challenge the government, and many declared the uprising a failure.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim called the insurrection “a stain in the history of democracy” at a news conference on Saturday in Ankara, the capital. He raised the death toll in the clashes to 265, with 1,440 people wounded, and he said 2,839 military personnel had been detained.

As the insurrection unfolded Friday night, beginning with the seizing of two bridges in Istanbul by military forces, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was not heard from for hours. He finally addressed the nation from an undisclosed location, speaking on his cellphone’s FaceTime app — a dramatic scene that seemed to suggest a man on the verge of losing power. But in the early hours of Saturday, he landed in Istanbul, a strong sign that the coup was failing.

Mr. Erdogan placed blame for the intrigue on the followers of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric living in exile in Pennsylvania, who was the president’s ally until a bitter falling out three years ago. Mr. Gulen’s followers were known to have a strong presence in Turkey’s police and judiciary, but less so in the military.

On Saturday morning, Mr. Erdogan said, referring to Mr. Gulen, “I have a message for Pennsylvania: You have engaged in enough treason against this nation. If you dare, come back to your country.”

In a statement released on the website of his group, Alliance for Shared Values, Mr. Gulen condemned the coup and supported the country’s democratic process.

“As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt,” Mr. Gulen wrote. “I categorically deny such accusations.”

Mr. Erdogan also said that Turkish fighter jets had bombed tanks on the streets of Ankara, and that a military helicopter being used by the coup plotters had been shot down.

There was also a battle early Saturday at Turkey’s main intelligence headquarters in Ankara, which government forces later secured, and a Turkish official said the intelligence chief, Hakan Fidan, had been taken to a secure location.

In a news conference on Saturday, Turkey’s top military officer, Gen. Umit Dundar, the acting head of the general staff, said that “the coup attempt was rejected by the chain of command immediately.”

More.

Agence France-Presse Updates on Coup Attempt in Turkey

Following-up from previously, "Turkey Coup d'État Risks Major Ramifications for U.S. Foreign Policy (VIDEO)."

Again, news is breaking very quickly and it's unclear who's in control, although I have my doubts that the coup plotters will be successful. Still, where's Erdoğan? As long as he remains out of the country, there's no saying how things will turn out. This is the real thing. Wow.

Here's some of the latest from AFP on Twitter, and note that events might prove different as we move along:

#UPDATE Turkish troops launch coup with soldiers taking to streets of Ankara and Istanbul https://t.co/5LzXDdKOjl

— AFP news agency (@AFP) July 15, 2016

#BREAKING Turkey military opens fire on crowds in Istanbul, casualties: AFP photographer

— AFP news agency (@AFP) July 15, 2016

#BREAKING Turkish F-16s shoot down helicopter carrying 'coup plotters': NTV television

— AFP news agency (@AFP) July 15, 2016

#BREAKING 17 police officers killed in Turkey coup attempt: state news agency

— AFP news agency (@AFP) July 15, 2016

#BREAKING Obama urges support for 'democratically-elected' Turkish govt

— AFP news agency (@AFP) July 15, 2016

TURKEY - Turkish security officers detain Turkish police officers (in black) in Istanbul. By @yasinnakgul #AFP pic.twitter.com/p5VMGCUJjn

— AFP Photo Department (@AFPphoto) July 15, 2016

#BREAKING Turkish parliament in Ankara hit by bombing: state news agency

— AFP news agency (@AFP) July 15, 2016

AFP photographer says Turkey military has opened fire on crowds gathered at Istanbul bridge https://t.co/RY1FWel2ka pic.twitter.com/q968SYRJVk

— AFP news agency (@AFP) July 15, 2016

#BREAKING 'Situation largely under control' after Turkey coup attempt: PM

— AFP news agency (@AFP) July 15, 2016

Turkey Coup d'État Risks Major Ramifications for U.S. Foreign Policy (VIDEO)

I've just been glued to my Twitter app for about the past two hours. There's no way to post on a story as fast-moving at the coup in Turkey. There's been all kinds of conflicting information, and some just plain crazy developments, especially the moment when President Erdoğan took to Face Time to announce that he was still in control and there'd be major repercussions against the coup plotters. Erdoğan urged citizens to rise up and take to the streets, and frankly, within minutes cable news reports started showing hordes of people out and about, protesting and gathering.

I'm going to look for the Sky News video of Erdoğan, but probably the best thing I saw of all this was Barbara Starr's reporting on CNN. She discussed all the intense linkages between Turkey and the U.S., including the former's key role in NATO, from which the U.S. is authorized to launch air missions from Turkish military bases. Turkey's also an incredibly strategic state, with its location at the entry-points to the Middle East from the south and to Europe from the north. And the U.S. sends billions of dollars in direct foreign aid to the regime in Ankara, so the investment is multifaceted. And then there's the fight against Islamic State and U.S. policy toward Assad's regime in Syria. Frankly, Turkey's looking like a linchpin over there, sheesh.

In any case, here's Starr at CNN. I'll update throughout the night. I've gotta say, this is an extremely interesting story from a number of angles. Donald Trump tweeted his support for the coup plotters, which may prove rather tantalizing, even problematic, depending on events.

In any case, there's too much conflicting information on who's in control.

NRA to Run $2 million Benghazi-Themed Advertising Campaign for Donald Trump (VIDEO)

This is awesome.

This ad's narrated by survivor Mark "Oz" Geist, a Marine Corps veteran who helped provide security services in Benghazi.

Via Theo Spark:

'Why not blow up the security line?'

Australia's Daily Telegraph cites Mark Steyn's tragic prediction from six years ago, at it's editorial on Istanbul, quoted at Steyn Online, "The Insecure Security Line":

As we observed yesterday, while Mark is traveling overseas researching a forthcoming book, we could easily run the "Steyn was right" series all summer. It would be too sad and bleak to do so, but today Australia's Daily Telegraph, in its editorial on the airport attack, takes note of another ancient insight from Mark:

SIX years ago, following the introduction of further airport security measures in the US, American-based columnist and author Mark Steyn made the following acute observation:

"The second thought that strikes you is that the ever- longer lines to get into the 'secure' area are now the least secure area in America. Why not blow up the security line? You could kill as many people as on an aeroplane, and inflict more long-term economic damage.

"But don't worry. The Transportation Security Administration has plans to expand the 'secure' area, so the insecure perimeter will be somewhere else, with even more vulnerable people standing around waiting to get into it."

Steyn's views from 2010 rang true following the terrorist attacks in March at Brussels airport, which targeted two security check-in areas, and they ring true again following yesterday's horrific terrorist attacks at Istanbul's Ataturk International, which also occurred at a security point.

An initial and understandable impulse may be that we need to rethink how airport security should operate — perhaps by expanding the secure areas. But as Steyn more recently pointed out, that would only shift potential targets:

"Clearly we need a secure zone outside the secure zone — maybe, say, outside the concourse. So everyone has to crowd on the sidewalk. And then when they blow that up we can move it back to the perimeter of the airport. And then ..."

And then ... where?

Indeed. We mourn the dead in Istanbul as in Brussels, but, as Mark remarked on another occasion, you get the feeling our rulers are hoping we're getting used to it.

Israel Matzav commented on just this yesterday, in the context of Israel security policies:

Only with Israeli style security In Israel they would have been stopped at the checkpoint a mile outside the airport https://t.co/L0YCv8vznM

— (((IsraelMatzav))) (@IsraelMatzav) June 29, 2016

WATCH: Airport Surveillance Video Shows Istanbul Airport Attacker Detonating Bomb

This video by now has been played thousands of times on all the combined major news networks.

It's pretty astonishing.

Via CNN:



Also, at London's Daily Mail, "Chilling moment ISIS suicide bomber casually walks into Istanbul Airport terminal next to a pilot: Jihadists are caught on CCTV before blowing themselves up and killing 41 in deadly massacre."

LATEST: At Least 28 Dead in Istanbul Jihad Attack (VIDEO)

Yep.

The number of fatalities has more than doubled since the initial reports on the attack.

Previously, "At Least 10 Dead in Istanbul Airport Homicide Bomber Attack (VIDEO)."

And now at WSJ, "Attack at Istanbul Airport Kills at Least 28":

ISTANBUL — Turkey’s busiest airport was rocked by a terrorist attack late Tuesday that killed at least 28 people and injured scores on the eve of a major holiday, the fourth major attack in Istanbul this year.

At least two blasts rocked the international terminal of Istanbul Ataturk Airport at about 10 p.m. local time, according to a Turkish official. Police fired on two suicide bombers who blew up themselves at the entrance to terminal, the official said.

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said an attacker had sprayed the area with a Kalashnikov and then detonated explosives.

Sixty other people were wounded in the attack, with six in critical condition, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.

Ambulances and police rushed to the area. Telecasts from the area showed bodies splayed on the floor outside the arrivals area and travellers rushing out of the airport. Police cordoned off the area and started evacuating passengers.


Flights to and from Istanbul were halted after the attack. British British Airways rerouted an Istanbul-bound plane back to London and Lufthansa cancelled at least one flight.

Turkish television channels reported at least three explosions at multiple areas, but there was no immediate confirmation from officials.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim called Interior Minister Efkan Ala and established a crisis desk.

Turkey’s largest airport has a strict security regime, unlike the other airports that have suffered bombings in the recent past.

Passengers are required to send all luggage and personal items through security screenings at the entrance to the departure zone, long before reaching check-in areas, which are separated by glass partitions and walls. The Islamic State-affiliated bombers who attacked the Brussels airport this year faced no such security screenings, and security officials believe that contributed to the high number of casualties there.

No group had claimed responsibility immediately after Tuesday’s attack...

More.

At Least 10 Dead in Istanbul Airport Homicide Bomber Attack (VIDEO)

This is breaking news.

If it's as bad as it looks, the number of fatalities is going to go way up.

MORE: At least 10 are dead in Istanbul airport suicide attack, Turkey says https://t.co/e2OZDKnOqs

— New York Post (@nypost) June 28, 2016

Expect updates.

Pure Evil: Iraqi Migrant Rapes 10-Year-Old Boy at Vienna Pool

When are these European "elites" going to wake up? European law enforcement officials can't keep up with security in the wake of Germany's New Year's Eve rape attacks.

There's going to be continent-wide violence pretty soon. It's going to be a civil war.

At Instapundit, "DIVERSITY IS OUR STRENGTH: Iraqi migrant rapes a 10-year-old boy at a swimming pool in Vienna and tells police it was a ‘sexual emergency’ because he hadn’t had sex in months."

Holly Williams Reports on the Crisis in Europe's Refugee Policy (VIDEO)

Watch, via CBS Evening News, "More than a million refugees fled to Europe last year, desperate to escape the turmoil in the Middle East. Thousands more are still making the journey. But Europe's welcome mat is wearing thin."

Turkey Getting Serious About Securing Its Borders?

Well, don't hold your breath.

At the New York Times, "Turkey Moves to Clamp Down on Border, Long a Revolving Door."