Flights from the terminal resumed as normal while Binali Yıldırım, the Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication, claimed that there had been no security lapses at the airport.

Witnesses initially claimed that they heard three successive blasts, though their cause was unknown and investigators refused to rule out terrorism as a motive.

On 27 December 2015, four days after the attack, the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) claimed responsibility for the explosion, announcing that it was a result of a mortar bombing in retaliation for the Turkish Army's continued military operations in Kurdish populated cities in the south-east.

[5] Initial investigations did not show clear evidence of terrorism, though the Ministry of Transport, Maritime and Communication stated there were no weaknesses in the airport's security.

The TAK gave their motive to be the ongoing 'fascist' military operations by the Turkish Armed Forces in mainly Kurdish-populated south-eastern cities, designed to combat PKK militants in the region.