1976 Yeşilköy airport attack

1976 Yeşilköy airport attack
Part of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
LocationYeşilköy Airport, Istanbul, Turkey
DateAugust 11, 1976 (1976-08-11)
Attack type
grenade attack, mass shooting
Deaths4
Injured~20
Victims
PerpetratorsPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
AssailantsMohamed Mehdi and Mohamed Husain al-Rashid

On 11 August 1976, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine carried out a terrorist attack against Yeşilköy Airport in Istanbul, Turkey, killing four people and injuring 20 more.

Incident

The attack occurred as passengers began boarding an El Al Boeing 707[1] destined for Tel Aviv; the last group was being taken to the plane via an airport bus. The perpetrators threw grenades and fired at the non-boarded passengers with submachine guns. The killers killed two Israeli tourists, Ernest Eliash from Petah Tikva and Shlomo Weisbach from Haifa, a Japanese tour guide, Yutaki Hirano, and Harold Wallace Rosenthal, aide to U.S. Senator Jacob Javits.[2][3]

Perpetrators

The terrorists surrendered following a shootout with Turkish police. They identified themselves as Mohamed Mehdi and Mohamed Husain al-Rashid from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.[4][5]

Reactions

R-NY Senator Jacob Javits, whose aide Harold W. Rosenthal was killed in the attack, sponsored Senate Resolution 524, "[Urging] the President to direct United States Ambassadors abroad to seek the consideration by foreign governments of suspension of their air service to any foreign nation aiding or abetting terrorism."[6][7]

References

  1. ^ "El Al Passengers at Istanbul Attacked; Guprrillas Seized". The New York Times. 12 August 1976. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Forgotten terrorist attack spurs Judeophobic hoax". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  3. ^ "El Al Passengers at Istanbul Attacked; Guprrillas Seized". The New York Times. 12 August 1976. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  4. ^ "Terrorists Kill 3, Wound 24 El Al Passengers at Istanbul Airport; Israel Seeking to Extradite Two". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Forgotten terrorist attack spurs Judeophobic hoax". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  6. ^ https://www.congress.gov/bill/94th-congress/senate-resolution/524?s=1&r=45
  7. ^ United States, ed. (1976). Terrorist attack at Istanbul airport: report to accompany S. Res. 524. Report – 94th Congress, 2d session, Senate; no. 94-1235. [Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.