Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Turkey’s leaders sat back as Isis took hold. Now its people are paying the price...

An authoritarian president and his indifference to jihadi groups has created the conditions for the terrorism that killed dozens more over the weekend


Saturday’s terrorist attack on a wedding in Gaziantep in south-east Turkey killed at least 54 people and many more were injured, but as macabre as it sounds, the attack surprised few. Turkey has suffered multiple terrorist attacks in less than a year amid growing political instability (the country is still yet to recover from last month’s coup), ethnic and sectarian polarisation, and the government’s disastrous policy toward the conflict in Syria.

Commentators were quick to point out that the suicide bomber, a young teenager, was under 10 when the Syrian civil war started, providing plenty of time for the attacker to become radicalised and drawn to jihadi groups. Political instability and President Erdoğan’s divisive rule aside, since the Syria conflict started in 2011 jihadi groups have established themselves alongside Turkey’s border with Syria.

Gaziantep has become a safe haven for Isis, to which Saturday’s attack is attributed and the terror group is reported to have significant supporters and resources in the city. This infrastructure would not exist were it not for Turkey’s careless indifference to jihadi groups, using their territory as a launching pad for attacks against the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, which Turkey has sought to topple for more than five years. Full story...

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  3. 'It's not smugglers with donkeys, it's huge business with Turkey main conduit'
  4. Russia accuses Turkish President Erdogan's son-in-law of being 'linked to Isis oil trade'
  5. ‘Everyone knows what’s going on’: Istanbul residents on Turkey-ISIS oil trade...
  6. Putin and Hollande go after Erdogan’s racket...
  7. Meet the man who funds ISIS: Bilal Erdogan, the son of Turkey's president...
  8. Double dealing tyrant who's sabotaging the West's battle to crush ISIS...

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