Turkey detains 40 suspected IS militants in raids
Turkey's state-run news agency says police have detained some 40 suspected Islamic State group militants in raids in southern Turkey.…
Turkey and its beleaguered government have been convulsed again with Saturday night’s twin bomb attack outside a football stadium that has killed 38 people and injured at least 160. The fact that no group has as yet claimed responsibility serves to deepen suspicions that it was perpetrated by Kurdish separatists. On closer reflection, the government has in recent months been riveted to the surge of ISIS, the migrants crisis, and disaffection in the military… to the relative neglect of the Kurds.
The ethnic cauldron is bound to simmer for some time yet, with the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressing its resolve to strike back. The bombings have roiled a nation that has for a while been struggling in the aftermath of a coup attempt as well as outrages in Istanbul and the capital, Ankara. As much is clear from the warning conveyed by the interior minister, Süleyman Soylu ~ “Sooner or later, we will have our vengeance. This blood will not be left on the ground, no matter what the price, what the cost.” Indeed, a certain belligerence was discernible in President Erdogan’s statement at an emergency cabinet meeting ~ “No one should have any doubt about our fight against terrorism,” he said. “We are the owners of this country and will not leave it to those scum if they aim to scare us with such attacks.” The latest mayhem has happened on Istanbul’s European side, and it is this renewal of Kurdish jingoism that has now deepened the challenges that confront Turkey.
The stalemate must end not least in the interests of Turkey. There have been post-coup crackdowns, most particularly purges in the army, and substantial is the risk of putting relations with Europe in jeopardy. There are factions within the separatist segment, which renders the precise involvement still more uncertain. According to a statement by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or TAK, “the attack, in which two of our comrades were martyred, was a reprisal for state violence in the south-east and the ongoing imprisonment of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ party, or PKK”.
At another remove, the government has claimed the involvement of the PKK in the bombings. The fundamental confusion as regards responsibility has served to make confusion worse confounded. The PKK, a separatist party that has been battling against the Turkish state for decades and is listed as a terrorist organisation in the US, has been implicated in several recent attacks across the country. Though the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) of Erdogan was the first to begin secret peace negotiations with the PKK, it has more recently drifted towards an alliance with the country’s nationalists, who have adopted a hard line on negotiations. Saturday’s outrage is likely to exacerbate the tension and fears of instability in the country that Kemal Ataturk had modernised a century ago.
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