It's Been Two Years TODAY Since ISIS Declared Their 'Caliphate', and Turkey is a Primary Target

By Caleb Howe | 10:00 AM on June 29, 2016

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EDS NOTE GRAPHIC CONTENT - Turkish forensic police officers work at the scene of a blast outside Istanbul's Ataturk airport, late Tuesday, June 28, 2016. Two explosions have rocked Istanbul's Ataturk airport, killing several people and wounding others, Turkey's justice minister and another official said Tuesday. A Turkish official says two attackers have blown themselves up at the airport after police fired at them. The official said the attackers detonated the explosives at the entrance of the international terminal before entering the x-ray security check. Turkish authorities have banned distribution of images relating to the Ataturk airport attack within Turkey. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel) TURKEY OUT

Rukmini Callimachi writes for the New York Times, but do not hold that against her. She is a credible, realistic expert on ISIS and terrorism. Today, she made a fascinating and perhaps critical point on Twitter.

1 Good afternoon, today ISIS is celebrating 2yrs since announcement of their caliphate. A graphic of their progress: pic.twitter.com/qmsSNvhsgI

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) June 29, 2016

Yes, today is the day ISIS recognizes as their anniversary. And yesterday, on the eve of that anniversary, the Istanbul airport was attacked by three suicide bombers. That attack resulted in 41 dead and 239 wounded, according to Istanbul’s governor this morning. Fifteen of those killed were “international” victims. That infographic comes from the ISIS affiliated Amaq News Agency.

As I have pointed out before, and likewise Rukmini Callimachi has pointed out on numerous occasions, ISIS almost never claims responsibility for attacks they had no hand in, and most of the time they do claim responsibility for those they did. But there are exceptions.

2. More than 16 hrs have passed since deadly bombing at Istanbul's airport. Officials blame ISIS but they have not yet claimed credit

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) June 29, 2016

3. This isn't surprising: Turkey is only country where ISIS is accused of carrying out suicide bombings in past. Yet they have *not* claimed

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) June 29, 2016

4. Here's what I want you to notice: Attack occurred on eve of ISIS' 2-yr caliphate-versary. Look at graphic again: pic.twitter.com/g9BkwJq56h

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) June 29, 2016

She points out that, at the bottom of the image (larger version here), Turkey is mentioned as a place where ISIS has “covert” terrorists. So is France, she notes, where the police officer was stabbed to death just after the Orlando shooting.

Furthermore, all three attacks have taken place during Ramadan, and share other extremely important similarities as well.

ISIS still has claimed no responsibility in Turkey. It has been almost 20 hours. And it has been two years. And they are still attacking the West. And the media and John Kerry are still saying they aren’t clear about the motives.

We are not getting this job done.