--- title: Istanbul Attack: Obama Says 'We Stand With Turkey' description: Obama spoke on the attack after a meeting with the president of Mexico canonical: https://time.com/4387904/president-obama-on-istanbul-bombing-we-stand-with-the-people-of-turkey/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-29T17:13:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:56:18.440Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama on Istanbul Bombing: 'We Stand With the People of Turkey' og:description: Obama spoke on the attack after a meeting with the president of Mexico og:url: https://time.com/4387904/president-obama-on-istanbul-bombing-we-stand-with-the-people-of-turkey/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a3243ed47e5a0f3/69889a0ff887dc34dae96740/obama_turkey.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Barack Obama og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama on Istanbul Bombing: 'We Stand With the People of Turkey' twitter:description: Obama spoke on the attack after a meeting with the president of Mexico twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a3243ed47e5a0f3/69889a0ff887dc34dae96740/obama_turkey.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama on Istanbul Bombing: 'We Stand With the People of Turkey' by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jun 29, 2016 5:13 PM UTC  President Barack Obama comments to members of the media on the recent suicide attacks at Istanbul's airport during a bilateral meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Neito at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, Canada, June 29, 2016. President Barack Obama comments to members of the media on the recent suicide attacks at Istanbul's airport during a bilateral meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Neito at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, Canada, June 29, 2016.Pablo Martinez Monsivais—AP by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jun 29, 2016 5:13 PM UTC President Barack Obama on Wednesday addressed the ongoing situation in Turkey where [41 people were killed in a terrorist attack](http://time.com/4386799/istanbul-airport-terror-attack/?xid=homepage) at the Istanbul airport. Following a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto at the North American Leaders Summit, Obama expressed his condolences to the people of Turkey for the “terrible attack that took place in Istanbul.” During the morning flight to Ottawa, where the summit is being held, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the president had spoken to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and offered support. Obama later condemned the terrorists who carried out the attack, which reportedly consisted of three suicide bombers who first shot at citizens and then detonated explosive devices. Authorities have not yet deemed any one group responsible for the attack, though Turkey’s Prime Minister [suggested ISIS is responsible for the attacks.](http://time.com/4386799/istanbul-airport-terror-attack/?xid=homepage) Obama said the attack was an “indication of how little these vicious organizations have to offer beyond killing innocents.” “They’re continually losing ground, unable to govern those areas that they have taken over. They’re going to be defeated in Syria, they’re going to be defeated in Iraq,” Obama said of the terror network. “We will not rest until we have dismantled these networks of hate that have had an impact on the entire civilized world.” We stand with the people of Turkey,” the President added. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4387904/president-obama-on-istanbul-bombing-we-stand-with-the-people-of-turkey/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4387904/president-obama-on-istanbul-bombing-we-stand-with-the-people-of-turkey/"},"headline":"President Obama on Istanbul Bombing: 'We Stand With the People of Turkey'","datePublished":"2016-06-29T17:13:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:56:18.440Z","description":"Obama spoke on the attack after a meeting with the president of Mexico","url":"https://time.com/4387904/president-obama-on-istanbul-bombing-we-stand-with-the-people-of-turkey/","keywords":["Barack Obama","White House","Obama","Terrorism","ISIS","Turkey","Terror Attack","istanbul"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a3243ed47e5a0f3/69889a0ff887dc34dae96740/obama_turkey.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a3243ed47e5a0f3/69889a0ff887dc34dae96740/obama_turkey.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Barack Obama","caption":"Barack Obama","creditText":"Pablo Martinez Monsivais—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4387904/president-obama-on-istanbul-bombing-we-stand-with-the-people-of-turkey/","name":"President Obama on Istanbul Bombing: 'We Stand With the People of Turkey'"}}]}] ```