What seemed to be a joyous celebration of the New Year, turned into a horrid blood bath in Istanbul, Turkey in the mist of midnight on January 1st, 2017. Many hoped 2017 would be a year with less violence, but alas terrorist attacks followed minutes into this year. The gunman opened fire at the Reina nightclub with his AK-47 rifle, killing 39 people and leaving dozens wounded; and since, Reina nightclub was the celebrity scene in Turkey, so there were people from all over the world came to celebrate the coming of the new year and soon were being hospitalized or found dead.
Here is a chart of the victims:
| Country | Number Dead |
| Turkey | 11 |
| Saudi Arabia | 7 |
| Iraq | 3 |
| Lebanon | 3 |
| India | 2 |
| Jordan | 2 |
| Morocco | 2 |
| Tunisia | 2 |
| Belgium | 1 |
| Russia | 1 |
| Canada | 1 |
| Kuwait | 1 |
| Syria | 1 |
| Israel | 1 |
Source: Foreign ministries/news reports
This breakdown of the victims shows how widespread the fear of terrorism is, and how universal the pain of loss is.
Being the second assault in two weeks in Turkey, the president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said he will place security measures to bring stability and reassurance to his country.
Zeynep Ozman, a brother of a wounded victim, said, “I don’t want to say anything political, but this can’t be accepted as the new norm. Terrorism is everywhere now, and the government has no control. Something needs to be done. There is no life left in Istanbul.” Turkish officials said that the gunman got away by playing dead at the scene, and is on the loose. ISIS claimed responsibility for the Istanbul attack on January 2; but officials say the suspect is an ISIS sympathizer because when a soldier of ISIS does an attack, they usually die as a martyr for their cause, yet, the Turkey nightclub shooter did not die and escaped. Although many citizens are losing hope, the Turkish officials will not stop fighting terrorism and restoring justice and peace to their country.