Istanbul Atatürk Airport Istanbul Atatürk Airport Istanbul Atatürk Airport () is the main international airport serving Istanbul, and the biggest airport in Turkey by total number of passengers, destinations served and aircraft movements. First opened in 1912 in Yeşilköy as a military airfield, on the European side of the city, it is located west of the city centre and serves as the main hub for Turkish Airlines. The city's other, smaller, international airport is Sabiha Gökçen International Airport. As of February 2017, 273 non-stop destinations are served from Istanbul-Atatürk, making it the airport with the second-most non-stop destinations worldwide after Frankfurt Airport. The
Accession of Turkey to the European Union European Parliament, equal to Germany's. If Turkey were to join the European Union, Istanbul would become the most populous metropolis in the EU. Cyprus was divided when, on 20 July 1974, Turkey invaded and occupied a third of the island in response to an Athens-engineered coup aimed at annexing Cyprus to Greece. Since then, Turkey has refused to acknowledge the Republic of Cyprus (an EU member since 2004) as the sole authority on the island, and recognizes the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus since its establishment in 1983. The Turkish invasion in 1974 and the resulting movement of refugees