Istanbul nightclub shooting: Attack not a shock to weary Turkey locals.

By Lisa Millar

The blue tarpaulin covering the front of the Reina Nightclub offers a sinking familiarity.

Police guard the entrance, just as they did in Paris outside the Bataclan Club in November 2015.

Inside you can only imagine the shocking aftermath of an attack that left so many dead.

But in France the shock and grief was palpable. Hundreds of Parisians stood and hugged each other, tears streaming down their faces.

There was no grief evident outside the nightclub in Istanbul.

Small groups of young people wandered by, some leaving roses.

But there were no tears. They are sadly used to this — if not this scale.

And there was anger. At one point a group of men rushed at the cameras, hitting lenses and pushing journalists back.

The local media told us they were plain clothed police officers.

Perhaps the only surprise for locals is that it happened in an area considered “safe”, where extra police were on duty in a city on high alert.

Thirty-year-old John Canuyar has been to the club in the past but avoided it on New Year’s Eve.

Standing outside in the weak winter sun 12 hours after the attack, he blamed a lack of security.

“I’m really shocked but nowadays it’s normal for Turkey,” he said.

“But we should think about that. It shouldn’t be normal for our country.

“We shouldn’t act that it is normal behaviour for our country. We should stop it.

“We should educate our people and learn how to eliminate these kind of people from our country.”

There were no tears either from Gulsah Ekici and her two cousins who were standing outside.

“We were home and we were thinking about coming to Ortakoy (the neighbourhood). We too might have been there,” she said.

“That’s why we were really affected. Our families would have heard our bad news.

“We thought of going to Ortakoy because it’s such a peaceful place.

“But nowhere is safe now in Turkey and we really don’t want to live here.”

No-one has claimed responsibility yet, but it would seem to have the hallmarks of an Islamic State-inspired attack.

Just like Paris, the target in Istanbul was a symbol of modern life, of fun and freedom.

But Turkey is a country facing multiple threats, its security is fragile and the situation is far too complex to make quick comparisons.

This post originally appeared on ABC News.