On January 12 , 2016 , an ISIL suicide bomber committed the 2016 Istanbul bombing in Istanbul 's historic Sultanahmet Square , killing 12 people . All of the victims killed were foreign citizens ( 11 Germans , 1 Peruvian ) . In response to the bombing , the Turkish Army commenced tank and artillery strikes on ISIL positions in Syria and Iraq . Turkish authorities estimate that these 48 hours of shelling killed nearly 200 ISIL fighters
2016 Istanbul bombing
January 2016 Istanbul bombing
Turkey–ISIL conflict