Historical eventDecember 232015

2015 Sabiha Gökçen Airport bombing

A bomb explodes at Istanbul's Sabiha Gökçen Airport, killing one airport cleaner. The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks claim responsibility for the attack four days later.

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In context

When
Wednesday, December 23 201511 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
21st century · 2010s
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

At a glance

Dates: From 2015-12-23.

Place: Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, Turkey.

Type: terrorist attack.

Deaths reported: 1. Casualties: 1.

What came before

Part of: timeline of the Kurdish–Turkish conflict.

Who was involved

Perpetrators On 27 December 2015, the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) claimed responsibility for the explosion and declared that the blast had been due to a mortar bomb . The TAK gave their motive to be the ongoing 'fascist' military operations by the Turkish Armed Forces in mainly Kurdish-populated south-eastern cities, designed to combat PKK militants in the region. [ 1 ] The attacker was arrested on 28 October 2017 in Istanbul.

What happened

Impact and casualties Two cleaning workers on the site were wounded, with one of them, Zeyhra Yamaç, later dying from head injuries caused by the blast. The Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication , Binali Yıldırım , said that the explosion had damaged five planes, which were later taken to hangars for repair. Flights out of the airport continued despite the explosion.

The Sabiha Gökçen Airport bombing took place on 23 December 2015 in the apron area of Sabiha Gökçen International Airport in Istanbul, Turkey. The explosion, which occurred at approximately 02:05 local time, wounded two airport cleaners, one of whom later died after being taken to hospital. Flights from the terminal resumed as normal while Binali Yıldırım, the Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication, claimed that there had been no security lapses at the airport.

December 23 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 1990History of Slovenia
  2. 1997Pioneer Helmet
  3. 2002General Atomics MQ-1 Predator
  4. 2003PetroChina
  5. 2005Antonov An-140
  6. 2007Kingdom of Nepal
  7. 20082008 Guinean coup d'état
  8. 2008Republic of Guinea Armed Forces
  9. 20152015 Sabiha Gökçen Airport bombing
  10. 20232023 Plateau State massacres
  11. 2025Harmony Jets Flight 185

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Everything we record for 2015 →

Sources

Cite this page

“2015 Sabiha Gökçen Airport bombing”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/2015-sabiha-g-k-en-airport-bombing-2015-december-23, accessed October 28, 2026.

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Questions about this entry

When did 2015 Sabiha Gökçen Airport bombing happen?

December 23 2015 — 11 years ago, on a Wednesday.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.

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