Spanish king condemns “brutal” terrorist attack at Istanbul airport

Spain’s Felipe VI has sent a telegram to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressing his condolences over the terrorist attack that killed at least 36 people and injured 147 at Istanbul’s Atatürk airport on Wednesday.

The Spanish monarch extended his “deepest regrets” over the “brutal” attack, and expressed “the firmest condemnation of this execrable terrorist violence,” sources at the Royal Palace told the Efe news agency.

“The Queen and I, Mr President, would like to extend all our support and solidarity to the families of the victims, and our wish for a speedy recovery of the wounded,” reads the telegram, which was sent on Thursday. “We all feel very close to the dear people of Turkey.”

Spain itself remains on terror alert level four, the second highest there is and defined by the Interior Ministry as “high”

Acting Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Wednesday that there were no reports of Spanish victims in the attacks. However, the Spanish government has opened two hotlines for Spaniards who may have been affected by the attack in some way. The numbers connect callers with the Spanish Consulate (00 90 532 547 49 43) and the Spanish Embassy (00 90 533 397 69 07) in Istanbul.

In January of this year, a blast at one of Turkey’s top tourist sites killed 10 people and injured 15 others. Since then, there have been four other attacks in the country, attributed variously to the Islamic State and Kurdish separatists.

Spain itself remains on terror alert level four, the second highest there is and defined by the Interior Ministry as “high.”