Last Tuesday started out as a regular day for me and most Americans, as we went about our daily routines and prepared for the day ahead. Later in the day, I received a Facebook notification from one of my Turkish friends that read: “[Name] has been marked safe in the explosion at Ataturk Airport.” Although Tuesday was a regular day for me, it was not a regular day for the people of Turkey.

I immediately turned to Google, wondering what happened. Three suicide bombers, and four men with machine guns arrived at the airport in a taxi and opened fire at the terminal entrance. The suicide bombers detonated their bombs when police fired back. Bombs went off, first in the arrivals area on the ground floor, second in the departures area, and third in the parking garage. Forty-one people were confirmed dead, and another 239 were injured.

With this attack being such a heinous terrorist action in an international airport (11th busiest airport in the world; third busiest in Europe), why hasn’t the media broadcast this event widespread, such as they did the Paris and Brussels attacks?

Let’s rewind a bit.

In the wake of the Paris attacks, countries from all corners of the globe offered their support to the mourning families and recovering city. The attack lead to the loss of 130 lives, and the injury of another 352. Hundreds of people’s worlds changed that day. This was an undeniably tragic event.

Schools held moments of silence, the media covered vigils, reconstruction efforts, and showed that the world was coming together in solidarity to support the victims.

However, what many do not know is that on the same day as the Paris attacks, ISIS orchestrated twin suicide bombings in Beirut, Lebanon. In the case of the headlines, reporters described the Beirut attack not as an attack on a city, but as an attack on a “Hezbollah stronghold” referring to the primary religion of the area. Compared to the headlines that described Paris, which instead focused on the panic caused by the bombings, as well as focusing on the tourist aspect of the city.

Now, take into consideration the ISIS attack on Brussels from earlier this year. Facebook notified me of a Belgian friend’s safety, just as they would my Turkish friends in the future. The ISIS militants attacked the departures lounge of the Brussels airport, and the security checkpoint for ticketed passengers near the airline check-in counters. The bombing killed 31 people, and injured 300. A remarkably similar situation as the Ataturk attack.

A day before the Brussels attack however, Ankara, Turkey, experienced an attack which killed 36 people and injured over 100. However, the media remained silent on this attack.

These examples alone expose the obvious media biases when covering terrorist attacks. Western media covers western tragedy, and does not humanize the victims of a terrorist attack in the Middle East. Many terrorist attacks have wreaked havoc throughout history, and the media chooses to only cover the small, most relatable situations. The reason no one is talking about the attack on Ataturk Airport is because the media doesn’t want to cover a terrorist attack that mainly affected people from a different walk of life -- be it religious, cultural or racially.

As someone who grew up in an international environment, I was able to meet, befriend and learn about people whose cultures differed greatly from my own. I ate, drank, laughed, cried and loved many different people, which brought me to the realization that everyone is the same. Every single person that inhabits the Earth wants to live a happy life. Everyone loves their families, and everyone wants to feel fulfilled. As Americans, and self-proclaimed global citizens, however, it is our job to stand with victims of any and all terrorist attacks, including the attacks that take place in countries different than ours.