Rochester resident Matt Knutson is the communications and events director for United Way of Olmsted County.

“I’ve been at that airport,” I told Sera after reading the news about the recent act of terrorism in Istanbul, Turkey. Since the attack, I’ve learned that a lot of people have actually flown there. Atatürk Airport is Europe’s third largest, serving 60 million passengers last year.

I arrived in Turkey in 2010 with my honors college classmates to tour ancient runes and historical landmarks in both Turkey and Greece. It was a formative time in my life and a trip I’ll never forget. I recall a rough landing in the most foreign land I had ever traveled to, and walking out of the airport following a brilliant tour guide who proudly welcomed us to her country. Certainly not all Turks love their homeland, but Secil certainly did. The way she spoke of Turkey made me dream of the days when people took pride in our country in a more noticeable way than flying a flag. Perhaps if I were to tour America as a foreigner, I’d get the same experience.

At the time of our trip, danger in Turkey wasn’t on our radar. While tensions have likely been escalating there, I doubt up until a few days before this attack people would have been very hesitant about flying. The very nature of a terrorist attack is that it catches someone off guard. My time in Turkey came at a time far enough after 9/11 when Americans had seemingly accepted that it was wrong and ignorant to believe all Muslims were terrorists. In fact, our time in Turkey took us to several mosques where we were able to witness both architectural marvel and prayerful worship. It was actually refreshing to see people faithfully worshipping their God in a quiet, humble manner rather than the worship settings I occasionally encounter here.

The danger our team knew about wouldn’t come until the second leg of our trip to Greece. Days prior, protestors had taken over the Parthenon to express their frustration over the Greek financial crisis. In the weeks leading up to our trip, the largest protest amassed 100,000 people. At one point, our tour guide pointed out where we could use an ATM machine, only to correct himself when he recalled that it had been torn apart from protestors just days before.

Now Greece’s neighbor grieves the loss of over 40 people and well over 200 injured in an airport that I had stepped foot in. This story is obviously not about me, but I can’t help but imagine myself in the shoes of the people there that day. Terrorism has impacted our country in many heinous ways, but none of them have occurred in the same place where I have previously been.

What can we do as a nation, as a world, to put a stop to these actions? Can we come together to care for one another, human to human? There is strength in unity that I fear many people (and nations, see Brexit), are forgetting. Fear drives us apart, and a bunch of people trying to solve a problem alone slows progress.

Did you know that something like 98 percent of people in Turkey are Muslims? They too are experiencing terrorism first-hand. Their nation would cease to exist if their government decided the best solution to terrorism problems was to not allow Muslims in anymore. That’s not a real solution to anyone’s problem, both abroad and here in America.

During my travels in Turkey, I recall walking around the perimeter of the Blue Mosque and finding a chain hanging across the entrance. It was later described to us that this was historically the sultan’s way into the mosque. The chain would remind him to lower his head, an act of humility as he went to worship.

As we pray and work to ensure terrorists are being thwarted, I hope we can all embrace a little more humility in our actions. Terrorism is about much more than the attacks on our shores, and oftentimes attacks, like the one in Turkey, receive less attention because it doesn’t fit a certain narrative. However, terrorism can best be defeated when we respond as a coalition. Our responses on social media, #WeAreParis, #WeAreBelgium, share this sentiment. I hope we’re able to do something more than hashtag a tweet to ensure attacks like these are being put to a stop both here at home and throughout the world.