Blast in Istanbul: Turkey’s nightmare

The bomb explosion at the popular and busy Istiklal Avenue in central Istanbul on Sunday, killing several people, including a child, and injuring 81, has shook Turkey out of its uneasy calm.

The United Arab Emirates condemned the serious and ruthless act of violence. Forces opposed to Turkey, including the banned Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), and Daesh, have been lurking on the horizon for a long time. But Turkiye has remained undeterred by these threats.

The blast has once again put the country on the alert. It has revived the sense of unease. This time round, it is suspected the blast suspect had entered from Syria, where the anti-Turkiye Kurdish organisation is based.

A woman of Syrian nationality who has been held is suspected to have left the bomb on the pathway, and the blast occurred after she walked away. She was recorded on the closed circuit TV monitors to have sat for 40 minutes before walking away. In his initial statement, Turkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the blast smelled of terrorism.

It has now been confirmed that the arrested woman has been trained by the Syrian Kurds and she entered Turkiye from the Syrian side. Raids at all the suspected spots with which the arrested woman was associated with were raided.

The police have arrested 46 people in connection with the blast. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said, “Our assessment is that the order for the deadly terror attack came from Ain al-Arab (Kobane) in northern Syria. We will retaliate against those who are responsible for this heinous terror attack.” Soylu also suspects that the Syrian offshoot of PKK, YPG, could also be involved.

Though Greece has expressed condolences for those who died in the blast, Turkiye’s neighbour is suspected of harbouring the Kurdish terrorists in Lavrion, near Athens. Soylu said that the suspects were planning to flee to Greece if they were not caught.

Turkiye and Greece have been at loggerheads on many issues, but Turkiye thinks that Greece and other European countries give shelter to Turkish rebels who plot against Istanbul. A day before the Itansbul blast, President Erdogan said on Saturday, “Who protects them now? Mainly Greece.

They run away to Greece, they run away to Europe.” It is the main grouse of Turkiye that the West is lenient towards the anti-Turkiye terrorist groups. And Erdogan minces no words in his criticism of the West. He has been opposing Sweden’s membership of NATO because he believes that Sweden gives shelter to anti-Turkiye groups.

Turkiye has maintained a tough stance against the terrorists as well as political dissidents. It has refused, both under army rule and after Erdogan has taken over, to negotiate with Kurdish party, PKK.

Turkey says that Kurds enjoy full rights within the Turkish constitutional system and that there is no persecution or discrimination against them.

Though they have been dealt with harshly by the Turkiye authorities when caught, the Kurdish militants continue to fight against the government in Istanbul.

The confrontation between the Kurdish rebels and Turkiye has been a war of attrition over the years, with the Kurdish terror groups striking in Turkey ever so often. Turkiye also faces resistance and rebellion from another group, which is Turkish.

There was a coup attempt by the group against the Erdogan government in 2016 which was crushed. Turkiye is always on the alert against anti-Turkish groups, and so far Istanbul has managed to repel them though the terrorists had succeeded in killing people through acts of violence.