Following the two sets of twin explosions that rocked Istanbul within a week, Turkish and international media had a field day, running wild scare stories. The four explosions killed 55 people, and injured almost a thousand. Scores of buildings were severely damaged, including, of course, the British consulate.
The political establishment has been shaken, and sections of the left disoriented. The revolutionary organisations of the working class must stand firm in the face of the propaganda onslaught.
The first set of suicide attacks targeted the Jewish community of Istanbul on Saturday November 15. Pick-up trucks loaded with explosives were detonated in front of two synagogues during Sabbath prayers.
The Jewish community in Turkey is made up mainly of Sephardic Jews, descendants of those expelled from Spain in the 16th century who settled in the western part of the Ottoman empire and in Istanbul. They speak Ladino, which is derived from old Spanish, just as the Yiddish spoken by eastern European Jewry is closely related to German. Their numbers have dwindled since the nationalist-driven Turkification of every aspect of social and economic life in the early years of the republic, and then through emigration after the formation of Israel.
One of the synagogues, the Nove Shalom, is situated in the ancient district of Galata, the financial centre of Ottoman Istanbul. Galata is a maze of narrow streets, with hundreds of businesses sharing six or eight-storey buildings. The Nove Shalom had been targeted at least twice in recent decades, and partially collapsed after a previous attack. When it was rebuilt, a fortified wall was erected to protect it. This saved the lives of many who were praying inside.
However, despite several warnings and requests by Jewish community leaders, the Turkish authorities had done little to protect the synagogue other than post a couple of policemen in front of the gates. Istanbul’s moderate islamist local government had declined to pedestrianise the street, on the grounds that such a move would hamper local commercial activity. The consequences of such wilful neglect became apparent on November 15.
Also apparent was the close relationship the Jewish community had with Israel. The Israeli foreign minister flew to Istanbul to visit the bomb sites - as if the synagogues were extensions to Israel’s territory, and as if the victims were Israeli citizens. Even the local Jewish community leaders felt uneasy at this shameless presumption on the part of the state of Israel. They tried to disguise it by ensuring that the coffins of the Jews who died during the explosions were draped with Turkish flags (with the special permission of the governor of Istanbul); and with speeches stressing their citizenship of and commitment to their ancient homeland of Turkey, and praising the acts of solidarity of their non-Jewish neighbours. However, these gestures had little effect on the prevailing atmosphere of anti-semitism amongst both moderate and hard-line islamists, as well as amongst the nationalist so-called left. Spectre of islamist terror
As it became clear that the perpetrators were islamist terrorists, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government was put in a difficult position: such an admission would touch its most sensitive nerve. The most islamist administration in the history of modern Turkey accusing islamists of committing terrorist atrocities? No way!
The efficiency of the attackers was an indication of their identity, and within a short space of time organisations calling themselves the Islamist Great Eastern Raiders Front (IBDA-C) of Turkey, and the Abu Hafz al-Masri Brigade, a new offshoot of al Qa’eda, claimed responsibility. The Turkish police identified the two drivers of the suicide vehicles as Turkish nationals who had taken part in ‘jihads’ in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosova, Chechnya and Ogaden.
Despite all the available information the government twisted and turned, and stated that it condemned terrorism no matter who the perpetrators were, but stubbornly refused to admit that these particular perpetrators were islamists. Under pressure from the opposition and media, prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan came out with an unfortunate comment: “Some say that the explosions have come as a warning. I sweep aside this warning and trample on it.” <SNIP> http://www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/506/turkey.html
-- Michael Pugliese American imperialism has been made plausible and attractive in part by the insistence that it is not imperialistic. Harold Innis, 1948 http://www.monthlyreview.org/sr2004.htm