ISIS Hits Istanbul

Turkey has been on the front lines of the war on ISIS/ISIL and has allowed coalition bombing runs to take place from its bases. But, until now Turkey has not been hit hard by terrorist activity. All of that changed when on the 6th of January a suicide bomber attacked the area near the historic Blue Mosque in Istanbul. There were a total of 10 victims, all of them from Germany. Most of those wounded were also German in origin. The Turkish government has arrested seven people in connection with the attack. The attacker has been identified by the Prime Minister of Turkey, Ahmet Davutoglu, as a foreign member of ISIS/ISIL named Diana Ramazova. This woman was even pregnant when she perpetrated the attack. This attack could have major ramifications for Turkey and the state of the war on ISIS/ISIL. Turkey may increase its support in the war and send troops to fight against ISIS/ISIL bases on its borders and tourism to Turkey may decrease as a result of the attack. Tensions are already rising on the streets of Istanbul as a result of the attacks and harsher laws may be set into place to prevent another attack. But at this point, who knows if that’s possible?