Istanbul bombing was no surprise, Turks agree, but they differ on why
| Istanbul, Turkey
A suicide bombing in the shadow of Istanbul鈥檚 famed Blue Mosque, the heart of Turkey鈥檚 tourism industry, killed 10 people Tuesday and wounded 15 others. Most of the dead were German tourists.
Turkish officials blamed the Islamic State (IS) for the bombing in Sultanahmet Square, the third high-casualty terrorist attack to strike the country since July. They said the bomber was Saudi-born Nail Fadli, who had come from Syria.
Officials and Istanbul residents alike said the attack should have come as no surprise, though for different reasons.
President Recep Tayyip Erdo臒an, whose ruling party recently won reelection with a promise to deliver security to the country, said in an address Tuesday to Turkish ambassadors that Turkey is the 鈥減rimary target鈥� of terrorists because it is fighting terrorism with 鈥渇ull determination.鈥�
But for many here it is Turkey鈥檚 own intervention in Syria against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad 鈥� including its past facilitation of anti-Assad Islamist fighters 鈥� and its renewed battle against Kurdish militants that made Tuesday鈥檚 blast a long-expected event that will further damage the country鈥檚 $34 billion tourism trade. Some residents said they have already adjusted their daily routines to avoid being caught in an attack.
鈥淭his Sultanahmet bombing showed us that these terrorist organizations can hit Turkey very powerfully,鈥� says Behl眉l 脰zkan, a political scientist at Marmara University who visits the area often. He owns property 500 yards from the blast, he says, and has not noticed any recent increase in security.
鈥淎ny rational person could have predicted it, and state officials should have predicted it 鈥撀爐hat鈥檚 the real problem,鈥� Mr. 脰zkan says.
鈥淭hese terrorist groups showed to the Turkish government and the whole world that they can attack any tourist center in Turkey, and there are lots of them,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey are attacking foreigners because they want to show that Turkey is vulnerable 颅鈥撀爐hey want to kill the Turkish economy.鈥�
Turkish media quoted officials as saying a Saudi Arabian man linked to Syria was the bomber. They also announced the arrest of 16 IS militants in the capital, Ankara, among them one Turkish national, who they said were planning major attacks.
Numerous IS cells are believed to be in Turkey, which for years served as a rear staging post for rebels of all stripes fighting to topple Mr. Assad.
As a result, many Turks say they have already been on tenterhooks 鈥撀燼voiding central squares and subway trains 鈥撀爏ince a double suicide attack killed more than 100 people at a peace rally in the capital, Ankara, in October, the worst mass killing in Turkey鈥檚 modern history.
Others began changing their habits last July, when Kurdish activists were targeted by IS in the town of Suruc near Turkey鈥檚 border with Syria. For many, it is all spillover from the Syrian war, which has brought more than 2 million refugees to Turkey during nearly five years of fighting.
Tourism in decline
鈥淚 was expecting this, and have been avoiding Taksim Square and not using the metro for a month,鈥� says Cem, the owner of a new coffee shop within earshot of Tuesday鈥檚 blast. Business has dropped for months because of the myriad conflicts.
鈥淗ave you heard the reports of IS along the border wearing police uniforms?鈥� he asks. 鈥淚 think they are living all around us鈥�. We feel lucky to be alive every day.鈥�
Turkey鈥檚 tourism has been in decline for more than a year, after welcoming some 40 million tourists in 2014. Concern about the Syrian war has been capped by the renewed Kurdish conflict and Turkey shooting down a Russian jet fighter near the Syrian border in November 鈥� prompting Moscow to cancel package deals that supplied the bulk of 4.4 million Russians who came here each year.
Mr. Erdo臒an repeated his theme that there is no difference between IS and the militants of the Kurdistan Worker鈥檚 Party (PKK) 鈥撀爓hom government forces resumed fighting a 30-year war against in July.
鈥淔or us there is no difference between PKK, the [leftist] DHKP-C, the so-called Islamic State 鈥� regardless of what their abbreviation may be,鈥� he said. All were 鈥渢errorists.鈥�
State news media reported Tuesday that 578 Kurdish militants had been killed since mid-December in southeast Turkey 鈥� and 鈥渢housands鈥� since July in both Turkey and Iraq 鈥� while more than 200 Turkish security forces had been killed since the summer.
'Government is trying to scare people'
Security was a key issue in elections last June that saw Erdo臒an鈥檚 ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lose its majority for the first time in 13 years. After the Suruc and Ankara blasts, Erdo臒an and Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto臒lu warned Turks that such insecurity was a result of not fully backing the AKP.
The party regained its majority in a snap election on Nov. 1.
鈥淚 think the government is trying to scare people, so we will become more attached to them, so we will beg them to protect us,鈥� says Asli, an architect who watched the plume of smoke Tuesday from her apartment. She has avoided Istanbul鈥檚 underground metro for five months, fearing attacks there.
鈥淭hey want to make you feel afraid, to make you weak,鈥� she says. Her usually busiest time with foreign clients was flat last summer, she says, and her parents 鈥撀爄nvolved in real estate on Turkey鈥檚 southern coast 鈥撀爃ave watched legions of Russian tourists go.
鈥淲hat was left were the Germans, and now they will go,鈥� says Asli. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not going to be a nice summer.鈥�
'Pick a side'
In his speech to the ambassadors, Erdo臒an called on them to make the country鈥檚 case as a strident fighter against terrorism. He accused intellectuals and critics of misreading the fight and said the government was 鈥渘ot stepping on the rights of its citizens鈥� but that it was Kurdish militants who were doing so.
鈥淧ick a side,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou are either on the side of the Turkish government, or you鈥檙e on the side of the terrorists.鈥澛犅�
Erdo臒an spent much of his speech discussing the Kurdish issue, but devoted only a few sentences to IS.
鈥淭his attack is real different because its aim is different鈥� We know that IS killed the Egyptian and Tunisian tourism industries,鈥� says 脰zkan, the political scientist.
鈥淵ou should be really na茂ve not to expect such an attack in Turkey,鈥� he says. 鈥淭urkey was very hesitant to be part of the anti-IS coalition, but this is an inescapable war.鈥� We are going to see really tough months [ahead], if not years.鈥�
