Flights out of Istanbul (layover question)

Maybe. You land 15 minutes late, then 15 minutes to get off the plane to passport control, then 15 minutes at passport control and security then 15 minutes to the next gate: That's an hour and boarding starts 30 to 45 minutes prior to flight time. Sure you will make it if everything goes near perfect, otherwise you spend the night in Frankfurt. A dozen others are about tell you they do it all the time and not to worry. I've done it a few times out of necessity and if traveling alone with no worry about when I finally get home I will probably do it again. If I were a betting guy I would say your odds are 3 : 2 in favor. I go through Frankfurt pretty often. Its faster than Heathrow and Chucky. D. and a little slower than Amsterdam. Not a bad place to do the dash if need be. Oh by the way, I have an hour and 10 minute layover in Frankfurt in April (Budapest to Houston).

I'm going to caveat this answer with the fact that I have not connected from Istanbul to the U.S. via Frankfurt since 2009 when I took a Delta flight, so my information may be out of date or remembered wrong. You should have enough time, but another 10 minutes would be nice to have. Since you are on the same carrier for both flights your luggage will be checked through (i.e. you will not need to claim it and re-check it). You will also technically not clear passport control since you are in transit to another non-EU country. However, you will have to clear a security check-point. I recall that this was reasonably quick - designated for a specific section of international gates. Since you have the same carrier for both legs you should also have some protection in the event that your IST to FRA flight experiences a delay. You'll be re-booked on a later flight. Good luck!

There's no guarantee of course and this is purely anecdotal, but I found Frankfurt transfers to be incredibly efficient. I couldn't believe some of the tight connections I made through Frankfurt; they had the shuttle bus from the plane ready to go and everything went like clockwork. If you can get cheap fare,chancing it may be worthwhile (especially since you're coming home on this leg).

The Germans are efficient. I have made a connection from the US (American Airlines to A Lufthansa flight to Zurich with just over an hour and had to Claim a bag and recheck it. They are very professional. This is assuming
Flights are on time, of course.