Turkey’s Reaction to Terrorism

By Beril Dedeoglu

April 03, 2015

Last week was a particularly difficult time for Turkey. First, we witnessed a major power outage that affected the entire country for many hours. Even though the exact reason is not yet known, some people have said that the outage was caused by an operational accident or a mistake, or perhaps it was cyber-terrorism.

People have discussed these options according to their political beliefs, but they did not panic at all. When power was restored, people resumed their ordinary lives as if nothing had happened. In other words, no one acted as if they were being attacked. So if it really was an act of cyber-terrorism, the perpetrators must be very disappointed right now, because society didn't care about it.

On the same day, Istanbul's main courthouse was attacked and a prosecutor died. A well-known Marxist-Leninist group claimed responsibility for it. The assailants were quite clear about the organization they belong to, with the flags they have displayed and so on. The attack was shocking, but it didn't cause panic among the population, either. Maybe because everybody knows it is a marginal militant group without an important social base. The reaction could have been very different if it was a Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) operation, for example. So people were saddened, but that's all.

The assailants had announced they were acting in honour of Berkin Elvan, the teenager who was fatally injured during the Gezi demonstrations in 2013 and remained for several months in a coma before dying. They emphasized Berkin Elvan's Alevi identity and gave the impression that they were acting on behalf of Turkey's Alevi population. What is odd is that the prosecutor had been appointed to the case only a couple of months ago and it seems he was working in the right direction to solve the case. One wonders if the real reason why he was killed is because he was determined to solve the case. Anyway, let's hope the investigation of Elvan's case progresses more rapidly from now on.

Society didn't panic and maybe that's why the next day a new terrorist attack occurred: A suicide bomber tried to enter the İstanbul police headquarters and the same Marxist-Leninist group claimed responsibility.

People then started to discuss security measures to protect this kind of public building, but almost no one discussed the terrorist group's motivations. Public opinion believes this organization is backed by foreign intelligence agencies, so they didn't pay much attention when the terrorists mentioned the name of Berkin Elvan, because they instinctively knew something else was behind it. Most people were quite sure it was a game concocted by a foreign country to provoke an Alevi-Sunni conflict in Turkey. We can't know if this is true, but this is the Turkish people's perception, anyway.

If a foreign intelligence agency is indeed involved in all this, one must say its experts probably know very little about the Turkish people. They miscalculated people's reactions and their plans have failed.

One wonders which foreign country could be so interested in Turkey's Alevis. Maybe those European countries that have large Turkish communities, including Alevis. By studying these immigrant populations, these countries probably imagined that Alevis could be used to provoke social unrest in Turkey. They have forgotten, though, that Turkey's Alevis don't want to get involved in any kind of unrest.

There are many illegal organizations in Turkey that use ethnic, religious or ideological references. But they lack any social base, and therefore public opinion is persuaded that foreign forces are behind them. If foreign forces are indeed behind them, one must admit their plans are not working well. The Turkish people know from experience what these forces would want to achieve; they perceive the risks and think that the best reaction is not to panic and preserve the nation's unity.

Source: http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/beril-dedeoglu/turkeys-reaction-to-terrorism_377068.html

URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-terrorism-jihad/turkey’s-reaction-terrorism/d/102343