The Latest: Video in Turkey shows man being shot at airport

By The Associated Press

ANKARA, Turkey – The Latest on the attack on Istanbul’s main international airport (all times local):

9:20 p.m.

A video obtained by the Turkish newspaper Haberturk shows a man being shot purportedly during Tuesday’s triple suicide bombing at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport that killed 44 people and wounded hundreds.

Turkish media late Thursday are reporting that the man was a plainclothes police officer who asked one of the suicide bombers for identification and was subsequently shot. The video shows the alleged police officer, in short sleeves, approaching a man dressed in black. The man in black then appears to shoot the officer, who falls to the ground.

The Associated Press was not able to independently verify the location of the video or the sequence of events.

The Turkish government is blaming the airport attack on Islamic State militants, but there has been no claim of responsibility from the group.

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9:05 p.m.

The United Nations Security Council is strongly condemning the triple suicide attack that killed at least 44 people and wounded hundreds at Turkey’s busiest airport.

The council says Thursday the perpetrators and organizers of the attack on Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport need to be brought to justice and reiterated that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable and are “one of the most serious threats to international peace and security.”

Turkish authorities have blamed the shooting and suicide bombing attacks Tuesday night on the Islamic State group.

The 15-member council expressed its sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and to the Turkish government.

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8:20 p.m.

Turkey’s leaders are trying to project an air of normalcy by opening a newly constructed suspension bridge, days after a devastating attack that killed at least 44 people at the country’s busiest airport.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim attended Thursday’s inauguration of the bridge in northwest Turkey that will cut by several hours travel between the cities of Istanbul and Izmir. They were joined by the Albanian prime minister.

Speaking at the ceremony, Erdogan said forces not wanting Turkey to succeed are behind a spate of terror attacks in the country.

Erdogan said: “The separatist organization on one side, the YPG on the other. then the dark organization called Daesh. They have been let loose against us by the forces who hold their leashes.” Erdogan was referring to a Kurdish rebel group, a Syrian Kurdish militia and to the Islamic State militants.

He said: “The bombs that explode in our country today will tomorrow explode in the hands of those who sent them.”

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6:30 p.m.

The Eiffel Tower is to be illuminated in the colours of the Turkish flag in homage to the victims of the Istanbul Airport attack.

The initiative that will see the Paris monument lit up in red and white at 11pm local time — had been planned for Wednesday, but was delayed 24 hours.

Deputy Paris Mayor Bruno Julliard said that it would be “a reminder of the unbreakable support of the City of Paris” to the Turkish nation and to the victims of Tuesday’s gun-and-bomb attacks that killed more than 40 people, including at least 10 foreigners.

Wednesday saw the image of the Turkish flag projected onto several world sites including Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate and Amsterdam’s Royal Palace.

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5:35 p.m.

Turkey’s state-run news agency says a man who was wounded in the triple suicide attack at Istanbul’s airport has died of his wounds, raising the death toll to at least 44.

Anadolu Agency says 25-year-old Yasin Ocal died in a hospital on Thursday.

Ocal, who was married and an employee at Ataturk Airport had sustained serious wounds to the head, the agency said.

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3:25 p.m.

A Turkish official says the death toll from a triple suicide attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport has climbed to 43.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Thursday that Sondos Shraim, a woman in her 20s who was caught up in Tuesday’s attack had succumbed to her wounds.

Shraim was a native of the West Bank town of Qalqilyeh. She had travelled to Istanbul with her husband and 3-year-old son for Ramadan. Her friend Nisreen Melhim, 28, was also killed, while Melhim’s husband and 3-year-old daughter were wounded.

Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala told parliament 19 foreign nationals were among the victims. The death toll excludes the three suicide bombers.

Out of the 238 who were wounded, 94 remain in hospital, the Istanbul Governor’s office reported.

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1:55 p.m.

A senior Turkish official says the three suicide attackers who carried out the deadly attack on Istanbul’s main airport were nationals of Russia, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

The official on Thursday could not confirm Turkish media reports that the Russian national was from the restive Dagestan region. Tuesday’s gunfire and suicide bombing attack at Ataturk Airport killed 42 people and wounded more than 230 others.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations.

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1:45 p.m.

The European Union says it still wants Turkey make changes to its anti-terrorism laws that EU officials say are used to muzzle dissent — a stance rejected by Turkish officials in the wake of the bloodshed at lstanbul’s airport.

“New demands directed at Turkey, that would encourage the terrorists,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday. “We can’t make any changes in our terrorism laws. Tomorrow maybe, when conditions change.”

Cavusoglu and other high-ranking officials from Ankara were at EU headquarters to resume negotiations on their country’s application to join the European Union. As part of a deal to secure Turkish help in cutting the flow of migrants into Europe, the EU wants Turkey to narrow its legal definition of terrorism and amend other laws to bring them in line with EU standards.

Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders, whose country holds the revolving EU presidency, indicated the bloc’s position remains unchanged following the attack at Ataturk Airport that killed 42 people on Tuesday.

“We cannot have our agenda being decided by terrorists. We have an agreement with Turkey, we’re working on the benchmarks, and that will continue,” Koenders said. “And I hope we come to an agreement.”

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12:35 p.m.

The German government says Chancellor Angela Merkel has spoken with Turkey’s president, assuring him that Germany stands by the country in the fight against terror.

Merkel’s office says the chancellor condemned Tuesday’s attack on the main Istanbul airport and offered her condolences in a Wednesday evening telephone conversation with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A government statement Thursday said the leaders agreed that “the threat from fanatical terrorism must be faced together.”

Relations between Germany and Turkey have been strained since the German Parliament voted on June 2 to label the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago genocide. That decision infuriated the government in Ankara.

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12:10 p.m.

Turkey’s state-run news agency says police have detained 13 people in connection to the deadly airport attack. Anadolu Agency says the three foreign nationals are among the group of suspects detained in Istanbul on Thursday.

Anadolu said police conducted simultaneous raids at 16 locations in the city, Anadolu said. Tuesday’s gunfire and suicide bomb attack on Ataturk Airport killed 42 people and wounded more than 230 others

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11:05 a.m.

Turkey’s state-run news agency says nine suspects linked to the Islamic State group were detained during a large-scale police operation in the coastal city of Izmir.

The Thursday morning raids unfolded simultaneously in the neighbourhoods of Konak, Bucak, Karabaglar and Bornova neighbourhoods, according to Anadolu Agency.

Police say they found three hunting rifles and documents relating to the Islamic State group, the prime suspect for the attack on Istanbul’s International Ataturk Airport that killed 42 people.

The report says the suspects were in contact with IS militants in Syria and were engaged in “activities that were in line with the organization’s aims and interests,” including providing financial sources, recruits and logistical support.

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10 a.m.

Turkey’s state-run news agency says police have conducted a series raids in Istanbul neighbourhoods, targeting Islamic State suspects following the gunfire and suicide bomb attack at Ataturk Airport which killed 42 people.

Anadolu Agency said police searched residences in Istanbul’s Pendik, Basaksehir and Sultanbeyli neighbourhoods but it was not clear if any arrests were made.

Authorities blamed the IS group for three assailants’ co-ordinated attack late Tuesday on one of the world’s busiest airports, that also injured more than 230.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility by the militant group.

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9:30 a.m.

A Turkish news report says security forces have killed two suspected Islamic State militants at the border with Syria.

Private NTV television said Thursday the two Syrian nationals “were neutralized” after they ignored security forces warnings, but provided no further details. It was not immediately clear if they were trying to cross illegally into Turkey.

NTV, without citing any sources, said one of the two militants was wanted by Turkey on suspicion that he would carry out suicide attacks in the capital Ankara or in the southern city of Adana.

The reported incident comes days after suspected IS militants attacked Istanbul’s busiest airport with gunfire and bombs Tuesday, killing 42 people and wounding more than 230 others.

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