Turkey suspects Islamic State behind bomb that killed 31

[webfact]

Turkey suspects Islamic State behind bomb that killed 31
By DESMOND BUTLER

ISTANBUL (AP) — Authorities suspected the Islamic State group was behind an apparent suicide bombing Monday in southeastern Turkey that killed 31 people and wounded nearly 100 — a development that could represent a major expansion by the extremists at a time when the government is stepping up efforts against them.

Turkish officials vowed to strike back at those behind the attack in the city of Suruc targeting a group of political activists who wanted to help the shattered Syrian city of Kobani, a bombing that turned a moment of hope into a scene of horror.

"We are face to face with a terrorism incident," Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said. "We have the willpower to find and certainly punish those who are responsible."

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but a senior government official told The Associated Press that Turkey suspected the IS group was behind the blast as retaliation for Turkey's steps against the militants.

The midday explosion took place as the Federation of Socialist Youths was wrapping up a news conference on plans to help rebuild Kobani, a witness said.

Suruc is just across the border from Kobani, the town that was the site of fierce battles between Kurdish groups and Islamic State fighters.

The fall of Kobani, heavily populated by Syrian Kurds, was the biggest defeat last year for the militants since they established control over large parts of Iraq and Syria. Its ruins have become a symbol of Kurdish resistance.

If IS was indeed behind the bombing, it would represent the group's most serious attack inside Turkey. A female suicide bomber with suspected ties to IS blew herself up in a tourist district of Istanbul in January, killing a police officer and wounding another.

In recent weeks, Turkey has taken new steps against IS, blocking websites and arresting suspected followers in the country, officials said.

Witnesses of Monday's blast described scenes of carnage and shock. Because the activists' news conference was being recorded, the attack and its immediate aftermath were captured in widely circulated video.

Fatma Edemen said the federation of about 200 youths had been pressing for more access to Kobani to help with reconstruction.

The group was chanting "Long live the resistance of Kobani!" when the explosion tore through the crowd, she said.

"One of my friends protected me. First I thought, 'I am dying,' but I was OK," the 22-year-old Edemen told the AP by phone as she headed to the hospital to get treatment for minor injuries to her legs. "I started to run after I saw the bodies."

Her voice shaking, she said her group had believed it was relatively safe to rebuild Kobani.

"Our friends went there, and it didn't seem dangerous at that time. We couldn't even think something like that would happen," she said, adding that they had hoped to build a kindergarten or something else for children in the devastated city.

"We wanted to do something, but they would not let us," she added.

IS militants carried out surprise attacks in Kobani last month that killed more than 200 people.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was in Cyprus on an official visit, was briefed on the investigation, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

"I personally and on behalf of my nation condemn and curse those who perpetrated this savagery," Erdogan said in a news conference broadcast on Turkish television.

In a statement on Twitter, Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan said such "despicable terrorist attacks" would never achieve their goal.

The United States strongly condemned the attack, noting that many of the victims had stepped forward to help reconstruction efforts in Kobani.

"We express our solidarity with the Turkish government and the Turkish people and reaffirm our undeterred resolve to fight against the sheer threat of terrorism," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.

The casualty figures were released by the prime minister's office and the Interior Ministry.

The senior Turkish official said authorities had evidence that the attack was a suicide bombing. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.

Another explosion Monday south of Kobani killed three Kurdish officials and occurred as the militiamen were removing mortar shells from a dump, said Mustafa Bali, a Kurdish official. Another Kurdish official had initially described the blast as a bomb.

Suruc also is the site of the largest refugee camp in Turkey. Nearly 2 million Syrians have crossed into the country to flee the fighting.

More than 220,000 Syrians have been killed and at least 1 million wounded since the country's crisis began in March 2011, according to the United Nations.
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Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Lori Hinnant in Paris and Ayse Wieting and Mohammed Rasool in Istanbul contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-07-21

[Srikcir]

Turkey finds its Islamic mantle no longer protects it from ISIL attacks.

Turkey might start to rethink allowing ISIL terrorist recruits to pass through its borders now.

[Docno]

Turkey finds its Islamic mantle no longer protects it from ISIL attacks.

Turkey might start to rethink allowing ISIL terrorist recruits to pass through its borders now.

Being a non-Arab, officially secular and pluralistic nation, Turkey will have been in IS's sights from the beginning. But of course, it made sense to first expand within weaker, more chaotic (non-NATO) states first.

[Lissos]

I think it is only a matter of time before there are terror attacks at Turkish coastal areas popular with foreigners. I don't know what measures Turkey has taken already, but it had better be good. It is a long stretch of land to secure, and although much of it is a considerable distance from these border areas, distance shouldn't be viewed as a sufficient defense.

[Steely Dan]

Time for Erdogan to decide which side he is on. It is plain to see for all those paying attention that the Turkish government has been siding with ISIS in their battle with the Kurds. Aside from a paper thin veneer of democracy there is little that separates Erdogan's party from ISIS, the main issue between them boils down to who should be Caliph?

[cookee68]

Well that's what happens when you have a country that was turning a blind eye to ISIS for a long time, now it has come back to bite them in the arse, it has only been the Kurds doing the fighting to stop ISIS from day one, now is the time for Turkey to redeem itself, and show some courage and face.

[sdanielmcev]

Time for Erdogan to decide which side he is on. It is plain to see for all those paying attention that the Turkish government has been siding with ISIS in their battle with the Kurds. Aside from a paper thin veneer of democracy there is little that separates Erdogan's party from ISIS, the main issue between them boils down to who should be Caliph?

Care to explain? Turkey has not been a country I'm familiar with politically, except for the Kurds.

[simple1]

Well that's what happens when you have a country that was turning a blind eye to ISIS for a long time, now it has come back to bite them in the arse, it has only been the Kurds doing the fighting to stop ISIS from day one, now is the time for Turkey to redeem itself, and show some courage and face.

You will find the attack was aimed at Turkish Kurds. The Turkish government have long considered the Kurds a greater threat to national security than Daesh. However, Turkey has been stepping up the arrest rate of Daesh members and sympathisers and I believe now permitted US/NATO aircraft to launch attacks from it's territory.

Right now NATO will not intervene with boots on the ground, so would NATO support a Turkish military invasion of Northern Syria to put in-place a buffer zone.

Turkey's national security interests has many competing elements for focus & prioritisation, they are covered in detail at the URL below.

https://www.stratfor.com/weekly/turkish-enigma?utm_source=freelist-f&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Gweekly&utm_campaign=20150721&utm_content=readmoretext&mc_cid=9245188851&mc_eid=ce07bb591d

[MB1]

I think it is only a matter of time before there are terror attacks at Turkish coastal areas popular with foreigners. I don't know what measures Turkey has taken already, but it had better be good. It is a long stretch of land to secure, and although much of it is a considerable distance from these border areas, distance shouldn't be viewed as a sufficient defense.

After the incident in Tunisia I too believe it's only a matter of time and also in Eygpt and Morroco and any where else in the region...After the incident in Tunisia many people are now saying they will not take their holidays in a region where attacks may take place and I can't blame them, people are now going to choose a country where they believe may be safer and the security forces are more aware of what might take place and have security measures in place to try and prevent such attacks...

The fact is though is that no where in the world is safe IMHO...

[Lissos]

The fact is though is that no where in the world is safe IMHO...

Indeed, including home turf. To me it is a case of thinking how they would think (unfortunately) sometimes, about the kind of achilles heel locations / scenarios that would attract their focus for a Turkey shoot / Bonanza.

On the other hand, I want to live my life and don't follow this as strict doctrine. I notice vulnerable points all the time (good road behind the wall at the back of a beach, several easy access gaps in the wall) but there is little anyone can do really unless they fundamentally alter their life.

Arguably, going really remote can be worse if someone picks up on the grapevine about your plans just through the logistics of organising a trek in remote areas, such as that French Hiking enthusiast in Algeria.

We make our choices. I think the best compromise is to at least be aware of vulnerability so that it won't come as such a terrifying shock if that weak point is exploited, and then make a conscious choice to place ourselves into certain settings / situation or not. It is the approach I've used overseas for nearly 20 years, that I would blame nobody else because it was an informed decision to visit places after doing my research on the situation.

At the same time, "it happens to other people" provably runs deeper in each of us more than we'd admit to ourselves. Funny old world, isn't it.