We Don’t Have To Make A Choice Between Terrorists!
Peace Initiative - Turkey (group based in New York) | 26.11.2003 15:35 | Terror War
During the past week, four explosions in Istanbul have caused the deaths of more than 50 people, have wounded hundreds and incited a wave of panic amongst the citizens of Turkey. We strongly condemn these attacks, regardless of the identities of the perpetrators and the purpose behind the crimes. We offer our condolences to those who lost their beloved and we wish urgent recovery for the wounded.
First, it has to be stressed that the statements coming from the Turkish state and the media after these obviously well-coordinated attacks are far from satisfactory; rather than offering clarity about the situation, they raise more and more questions.
The public statements and immediate developments after these bombings, similar to the aftermath of the September 11th attacks in the US, suggest that the peoples of Turkey and of the world are being shoved into a cage of fear and despair, that the events are being manipulated by the powers that be towards some sinister end.
At a first glance, the chosen targets are synagogues, the British Consulate, and a British bank. The perpetrators wanted us to think that the attacks, at least symbolically, were against Israel and the UK. Thus the Behemoth of “Islamist terror”, in its national and/or international forms, is immediately invoked. However, the attacks did not only harm people directly related to the targets - most of the murdered and maimed victims (80%) are neither Jewish nor British, but are unlucky passers-by, all of them Muslims. It is illogical to assume that the organizers (or their puppetmasters) of an action of such scale have not foreseen this. The perpetrators appear to have calculated that the bombings would enrage the Turkish society as a whole. If, despite all this, Islamist groups are behind the attacks - which is not at all a negligible probability - then we are confronted by a purposeless network of murderers, who do not have any serious political agenda, who do not care about gaining the total hatred of a country populated by a Muslim majority, and who, in the end, promote US’ and Israel’s plans for the region.
On the other hand, there is another possible backgrounder to all this, one which is much more intricate than the story we are told and expected to believe in. It is well-established that the Turkish state, against the Kurdish guerilla movement, has groomed, used, and (when their utility has expired) tried to exterminate armed Islamist groups - a telling similarity to the US-Osama bin Laden connection. Parallel to this fact, the authoritarian/fascistic elements entrenched deeply inside the state are disturbed by and resistant to the democratizing reforms of the government on the path to the European Union - resistance is especially strong against a peaceful resolution to the Cyprus question and against the possibility of a victory by the Turkish Cypriot opposition in the coming elections. Recently, numerous dents have been inflicted on the armor of the “National Security” ideology (held dearly by these state actors), and these cadres feel that if the current political climate continues, they will become unemployed. Moreover, increasingly more lies told by the neo-conservative tendency (whose chief sponsors are Bush and Blair) are being exposed, the resistance in Iraq is getting more costly, and gaining the consent of the world for a “long-term and total mobilization against international terrorism” is becoming more and more difficult. Global hegemons and those powerful Turkish actors worrying about the integrity of their dominant positions have a convergent interest in convincing the masses that they are constantly in great danger. National (or international) security ideologies require a habitat colonized by terror and despair in order to sustain themselves. Therefore, the Bush/Blair leadership, the Sharon administration in Israel, and the militarist cadres of the Turkish state all have an interest in the consolidation of a perpetual terror threat. It is telling to observe that these three groups joined hands in the last few years and that they moved closer after the bombings. Even if it is proved in the coming days that the perpetrators of the crimes in Istanbul were Islamist groups, we have to keep the above points in mind while we think about what political ends the ruling powers will exploit the bombings for.
These are the things which, in responding to the storms of violence that thunder through the Middle East today, and that have recently engulfed Turkey, we will not let be forgotten and concealed from the public. Let us repeat these points briefly: 1) In our region, as in other regions around the world, the United States, allied with its close partner Israel, using both direct interventions and client dictatorships, is the chief source of violence and destabilization. 2) The US, Israel and Turkey have all supported, groomed and used Islamist terror groups in the past. When they were done with these groups, they tried to liquidate them and were confronted by the monster of their creation. It is yet uncertain whether all of these terrorist groups operate totally independent of, and are not manipulated by, their old masters. 3) As long as the Israeli and US occupation and state terrorism continue in Palestine and in Iraq, opportunities will be aplenty for retributional violence to thrive. While this counter-violence will try to target Israel and the US, it may as well be diffused to collaborationist countries like Turkey, whose parliament approved the sending of Turkish troops to help the occupation. Therefore, the responsibility of the Justice and Development Party government (which sponsored the sending of the troops), and of the Army (which “encouraged” the government) in the bombings is obvious - neither actor have heeded the deafening warnings coming from the majority of the Turkish society and from the peace movement.
Another world, other than the worlds of violence and oppression dictated upon us, is possible. People and organizations who are on the side of peace and democracy should reject making a choice between Islamist (or some other) terrorism and state terrorism which feed upon one another. They should expose the imposition of these choices itself. Creating and expanding an inclusive political mobilization in Turkey and in the world is an urgent task before us. There are some groups out there who, by scaring us, want us to be content with less freedom, less democracy and more exploitation; they are trying to steal our future. Let us not allow that. Let us reject, all together, all at once, every form of terrorism including state terrorism and every anti-democratic activity. Let us not forget that institutions capable of fighting against terrorism, should, above all, themselves be free of terrorism.
PIT
The public statements and immediate developments after these bombings, similar to the aftermath of the September 11th attacks in the US, suggest that the peoples of Turkey and of the world are being shoved into a cage of fear and despair, that the events are being manipulated by the powers that be towards some sinister end.
At a first glance, the chosen targets are synagogues, the British Consulate, and a British bank. The perpetrators wanted us to think that the attacks, at least symbolically, were against Israel and the UK. Thus the Behemoth of “Islamist terror”, in its national and/or international forms, is immediately invoked. However, the attacks did not only harm people directly related to the targets - most of the murdered and maimed victims (80%) are neither Jewish nor British, but are unlucky passers-by, all of them Muslims. It is illogical to assume that the organizers (or their puppetmasters) of an action of such scale have not foreseen this. The perpetrators appear to have calculated that the bombings would enrage the Turkish society as a whole. If, despite all this, Islamist groups are behind the attacks - which is not at all a negligible probability - then we are confronted by a purposeless network of murderers, who do not have any serious political agenda, who do not care about gaining the total hatred of a country populated by a Muslim majority, and who, in the end, promote US’ and Israel’s plans for the region.
On the other hand, there is another possible backgrounder to all this, one which is much more intricate than the story we are told and expected to believe in. It is well-established that the Turkish state, against the Kurdish guerilla movement, has groomed, used, and (when their utility has expired) tried to exterminate armed Islamist groups - a telling similarity to the US-Osama bin Laden connection. Parallel to this fact, the authoritarian/fascistic elements entrenched deeply inside the state are disturbed by and resistant to the democratizing reforms of the government on the path to the European Union - resistance is especially strong against a peaceful resolution to the Cyprus question and against the possibility of a victory by the Turkish Cypriot opposition in the coming elections. Recently, numerous dents have been inflicted on the armor of the “National Security” ideology (held dearly by these state actors), and these cadres feel that if the current political climate continues, they will become unemployed. Moreover, increasingly more lies told by the neo-conservative tendency (whose chief sponsors are Bush and Blair) are being exposed, the resistance in Iraq is getting more costly, and gaining the consent of the world for a “long-term and total mobilization against international terrorism” is becoming more and more difficult. Global hegemons and those powerful Turkish actors worrying about the integrity of their dominant positions have a convergent interest in convincing the masses that they are constantly in great danger. National (or international) security ideologies require a habitat colonized by terror and despair in order to sustain themselves. Therefore, the Bush/Blair leadership, the Sharon administration in Israel, and the militarist cadres of the Turkish state all have an interest in the consolidation of a perpetual terror threat. It is telling to observe that these three groups joined hands in the last few years and that they moved closer after the bombings. Even if it is proved in the coming days that the perpetrators of the crimes in Istanbul were Islamist groups, we have to keep the above points in mind while we think about what political ends the ruling powers will exploit the bombings for.
These are the things which, in responding to the storms of violence that thunder through the Middle East today, and that have recently engulfed Turkey, we will not let be forgotten and concealed from the public. Let us repeat these points briefly: 1) In our region, as in other regions around the world, the United States, allied with its close partner Israel, using both direct interventions and client dictatorships, is the chief source of violence and destabilization. 2) The US, Israel and Turkey have all supported, groomed and used Islamist terror groups in the past. When they were done with these groups, they tried to liquidate them and were confronted by the monster of their creation. It is yet uncertain whether all of these terrorist groups operate totally independent of, and are not manipulated by, their old masters. 3) As long as the Israeli and US occupation and state terrorism continue in Palestine and in Iraq, opportunities will be aplenty for retributional violence to thrive. While this counter-violence will try to target Israel and the US, it may as well be diffused to collaborationist countries like Turkey, whose parliament approved the sending of Turkish troops to help the occupation. Therefore, the responsibility of the Justice and Development Party government (which sponsored the sending of the troops), and of the Army (which “encouraged” the government) in the bombings is obvious - neither actor have heeded the deafening warnings coming from the majority of the Turkish society and from the peace movement.
Another world, other than the worlds of violence and oppression dictated upon us, is possible. People and organizations who are on the side of peace and democracy should reject making a choice between Islamist (or some other) terrorism and state terrorism which feed upon one another. They should expose the imposition of these choices itself. Creating and expanding an inclusive political mobilization in Turkey and in the world is an urgent task before us. There are some groups out there who, by scaring us, want us to be content with less freedom, less democracy and more exploitation; they are trying to steal our future. Let us not allow that. Let us reject, all together, all at once, every form of terrorism including state terrorism and every anti-democratic activity. Let us not forget that institutions capable of fighting against terrorism, should, above all, themselves be free of terrorism.
PIT
Peace Initiative - Turkey (group based in New York)