President Barack Obama expressed his condolences for the people of Turkey following a terrorist attack in an Instanbul airport Tuesday that killed 41 people.
Obama, speaking Wednesday after a joint meeting with Mexican and Canadian leaders, said he called Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan following the attacks to express his heartbreak and reaffirm the United States’ commitment to Turkey.
“We stand with the people of Turkey and we intend to do what’s necessary to make sure that these kind of terrible events are not happening,” Obama said.
He also said the attacks were indicative of the Islamic State terror group’s failings and that they are losing control of the territories they seized. ISIL has yet to claim responsibility for the attack, but the Turkish government has said that it was most likely connected to the terrorist group.
“It’s an indication of them being unable to govern those areas they’ve taken over, that they are going to be defeated in Syria, they’re going to be defeated in Iraq, that had an impact on the entire civilized world,” Obama said. “And I know that view is shared by Mexico, it’s shared by Canada, it’s shared by all the people in this hemisphere and its shared in every region of the world.”
