August 2016 Gaziantep bombing

On the night of 20 August 2016, at approximately 10:50pm local time, a suicide bomber attacked a wedding party in Gaziantep, Turkey. More than 200 people were present at the celebration, which was taking place during a traditional henna night for a Kurdish family. The family had reportedly fled the Kurdish town of Siirt due to violence between Turkish state forces and the PKK. The groom was injured in the attack but survived with non-life-threatening injuries; the bride escaped unharmed.

The attack killed 57 people and injured 66 others, with 14 of the injured described as being in serious condition as of 22 August. A notably high proportion of the fatalities were children: 34 of the 57 people killed were under the age of 18. Thirteen of those killed were women. A witness reported that two suspicious individuals had approached the party before the attack and left the scene afterward; security forces searched for these two individuals following the bombing.

The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) stated that the attack had targeted a wedding involving members of their party. Mahmut Toğrul, an HDP member of parliament for Gaziantep, said he believed the attack was retaliation for losses suffered by the Islamic State (IS) against the People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria. Turkey's broadcast regulator, RTÜK, banned footage from the scene of the attack. The bombing occurred hours after Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım stated that Turkey could take a more active role in the Syrian civil war.

In the aftermath, no group had claimed responsibility for the attack, though AKP parliamentary officials initially suggested both IS and the PKK as possible perpetrators. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that the attacker was believed to be between 12 and 14 years old, and said he believed the attack had likely been carried out by IS. The following day, Prime Minister Yıldırım said Turkish authorities were still working to determine who was responsible and whether the bomber was a child or an adult. By 22 August 2016, DNA testing was underway in an effort to identify the perpetrator.

The attack drew international condemnation, with numerous countries and organizations issuing statements of solidarity and condolence to Turkey, including Azerbaijan, Egypt, France, Greece, Iran, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and the United Kingdom.