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ISIL used child bomber in attack that killed 51 in SE Turkey
“There are strong indications that the attack was carried out by ISIL. A suicide bomber aged between 12 and 14 blew himself up. We know that ISIL has been trying to gain ground in Gaziantep for a while now,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told journalists in a press briefing in Istanbul on Aug. 21. The terror attack took place in the Beybahçe neighborhood of the Şahinbey district of Gaziantep province, according to a statement by the governor’s office. After its initial inspections at the scene, police said they found pieces of a suicide vest. The bride and the groom were also wounded in the attack on a street wedding, mostly attended by people from the eastern provinces of Siirt and Van. The suicide bomber reportedly joined the crowd disguising himself as a guest before blowing himself up. Funerals were started to be held on Aug. 21. General who replaced leading plotter at General Staff detained over Gülen links [Hurriyet] A brigadier general who was assigned to the legal department of the Office of the Chief of General Staff after the failed July 15 coup attempt, believed to have been masterminded by the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), has been detained over links to the group. Brigadier General Dinçer Ural had replaced Col. Muharrem Köse, who played an important role in the planning of the takeover and who was arrested after the coup. Ural was detained after the prosecutors determined that he also had contacts with people linked to the U.S.-based Islamic preacher, Fethullah Gülen. Ural was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in the Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) meeting that took place after the failed bid, with no intelligence indicating he had any connections to the Gülenists. He started his duties in the General Staff on July 28, but it was alleged that he was among the names that the National Intelligence Agency (MİT) determined were using ByLock, an app that came to prominence after the failed seizure of power amid reports that the coup plotters had been using it to communicate. Ural reportedly spoke on the phone with “Özbek,” codenamed Dilaver Azim, who is named as “suspect number 21” in the FETÖ indictment and described as the organization’s “safe box.” It was determined that Ural and Azim spoke on the phone and exchanged messages between 2011 and 2015. In addition, Ural’s wife reportedly deposited some 9,500 Turkish Liras to Bank Asya back when Gülen ordered his followers to do so when the previously-Gülen aligned bank was coming under government pressure. Ural’s son was also reportedly working in a company linked to FETÖ and his sister was among the suspects of the probe into the Public Personnel Selection Exam (KPSS) in 2010. Turkish Foreign Ministry recalls 300 diplomats in probe [Hurriyet] Turkey’s Foreign Ministry has called on around 300 diplomats serving at missions abroad to return to the country as part of an investigation into the Fetullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ), which was blamed for the failed July 15 coup attempt. Diplomats who are found to have had liaisons with FETÖ will be laid off from their jobs, while those who have no connection with the organization will return to their posts, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported Aug. 21, citing anonymous sources. Ambassador Gürcan Balık, who served as the chief adviser to former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu during the latter’s time as foreign minister amid a variety of diplomatic crises, was detained Aug. 19 as part of Turkey’s post-coup attempt investigation. Ahead of Balık’s detention, two former Turkish ambassadors linked to FETÖ were detained Aug. 18. Tuncay Babalı, former ambassador to Canada, and Ali Fındık, former ambassador to Costa Rica, were detained in Ankara for suspected links to FETÖ, a police source said Aug. 18. Balık and Babalı have not been on an active mission since early 2014, after the government began fighting against the Gülen movement in the wake of a massive corruption and fraud operation targeting government members in late 2013. Balık, Babalı and Fındık remain in custody, Anadolu Agency reported Aug. 21. Gülenist infiltration of the Foreign Ministry took place in high numbers between 2007 and 2013. Both Babalı and Fındık served in the human resources department of the ministry during this period. Babalı was the head of the department between 2010 and 2012 before being appointed to Ottawa, while Fındık was sent to Costa Rica as the Turkish envoy.
Posted by: Steve White 2016-08-22 |
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