13/10/2015
8953 times read
13/10/2015
8953 times read
![Yusuf Awadh Al-Azmi](https://www.arabtimesonline.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Yousef-Awadh-209x300.jpg)
Two days ago, the city of Istanbul was hit by a terrible terrorist attack when two cars laden with bombs exploded, killing more than 85 individuals and injuring many others, as per some sources. I will not elaborate on this attack but I will highlight some issues that are somewhat related to it. The attack was aimed to send a certain political message to the Turkish leadership because an ordinary group or a small organization or even the Kurdish Labor Party cannot be responsible for such an incident.
It is important to bring all of such files together to identify the culprit. We remember the saying ‘What goes around comes around’ which has been used by a number of media channels, which are against the Erdogan regime, in their analyses of the incident.
This phrase can be considered as the first of many clues that can lead to the culprit of this heinous crime. From the start of the bloody crisis in Syria, Turkey maintained an obvious stance which is to topple the Al-Assad regime. Turkey provided refuge to millions of displaced Syrians. It has been the main and reliable place of gathering for Syrian movements and parties that oppose the Syrian regime. On the other hand, it has also been accused of facilitating the entry of militias for fighting in Syria.
In fact, if NATO had supported its Turkish alliance from the beginning, the Turkish military would have been able to topple Al-Assad at the beginning of the Syrian revolution. Ankara directly and indirectly supported the Syrian opposition due to which it has become the favorite destination for the Syrian refugees. Under the absence of the support of several major countries, Turkey stepped up to bear the cost of hosting these refugees and providing them with necessary services and facilities.
After all this and the Russian intervention in the Syria as well as the new developments on Al-Sham battlefield, we can assume that the bomb blast was aimed to deliver to the President of Turkey Erdogan a political message — “We are capable of entering Istanbul if we want to” and that Erdogan has to meet certain demands if he does not want such a terrorist attack to be repeated.
Undoubtedly, this attack has the fingerprints of Syrian involvement. We do not know the source yet but the coming days will reveal to us many facts that we never knew even if the main headlines are ‘political’. Politics is not seen on the table of dialogues in certain cases but can be seen in the form of an explosive belt or in this case, a car full of explosives.
What I said could be a clearly delivered message, because some people are indifferent to taking innocent lives while many others believe hoax alarm is a part of politics. Such people are mean politicians by nature, due to which the prison is the most suitable place for them rather than the table of dialogue inside a five-star hotel.
Many people spoke about link between Erdogan and the DAESH terrorist group, which is being regarded as one of the reasons behind this incident. In fact, I cannot rule out the hand of DAESH in this attack because it is the poisonous plant in the region.
Summing up from what has happened, what I mentioned here and what I omitted, we have to agree that the incident absolutely represented a political message to Turkey.
Dear Erdogan, now that the bloody and brutal message has been delivered, what will you do?
Syria of today is different from Syria of yesterday. The Russian bear is present today to send ballistic missiles across the Caspian Sea and to threaten Incirlik Air Base day and night, while the data on ground have changed. Due to this, we should be careful in the days ahead, not weeks, as many new happenings can be expected.
Will the stance of Turkey over the Syrian crisis change after the reinforcement from Russia? Will the various claims of Turkey’s support towards terrorist groups, as per Al-Assad and his cohorts, be sustained?
Istanbul, the beautiful city of Mohammad Al-Fatih and the ancient capital of the Ottoman Empire, does not deserve this. Despite all the criticisms, Rajab Tayyip Erdogan and his government demonstrated a model of wonderful humanity which will be known throughout history. He did the same for the Syrian neighbors, who he referred to as guests rather than refugees. Posterity will be kind to him for accommodating more than three million Syrian refugees without bragging like many others.
This is the reason why it will forever remain a focal point of anger for the bloody Baathi regime in Syria and its allies. We are waiting for the outcome of the investigations in Istanbul so that many things that we never anticipated will be brought out in the open.
At this juncture, I offer my heartfelt and sincere condolences to the people of Turkey and the Turkish President Rajab Tayyip Erdogan. I beseech Allah to grant Turkey and the entire world peace and a bright future.
By Yousef Awadh Al-Azmi