| Submit your comments on this article |
| The Grand Turk |
| IS strikes Istanbul |
| 2016-01-14 |
| [DAWN] WHILE President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... lamented that his country was the "top target for all terrorist groups in the region", Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu wasted no time in blaming the bad boy Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... group for Tuesday's carnage in the heart of Istanbul. The suicide kaboom at the tourist hub should be seen against the background of ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's stepped-up role in the anti-IS coalition and the military reverses His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ...formerly merely the head of ISIL and a veteran of the Bagram jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us... 's hordes have of late been suffering. Ankara has allowed American warplanes to use its Incirlik base, while the Turkish air force, too, has been bombing IS targets in Syria. Moreover, the overall military situation doesn't seem to be going in the bad boy group's favour. Last month, it lost Ramadi to Iraqi forces, while there are reports that some IS commanders are deserting. Observers believe that the city of Manjib could be retaken next by Syrian forces. No wonder, IS should have thought it fit to strike what is Europe's biggest city (in terms of population) and convey a deadly message -- that it can strike wherever and whenever it wants. The carnage in Gay Paree is still fresh in everybody's mind. Until late last year, Turkey had not really shown much zeal in taking on IS, even when the snuffies had come as close to its border as Kobane. Instead, the Erdogan government seemed focused on ending the Bashir al-Assad regime. Its other concerns were the Kurdish militia in Syria and the PKK, with which the ceasefire has all but collapsed. While Ankara must seek a peaceful settlement of the Kurdish issue, the Erdogan government has no choice but to throw its full weight behind the US-led coalition to wipe out IS and give peace and dignity to the people in what is the heart of the Middle East. Situated strategically, Turkey cannot anymore ignore IS terror attacks on its soil or sit on the sidelines while the snuffies remain in possession of large chunks of territory and use it as a base for international terrorism. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Mullah Richard----with Recip's lust for power, I can easily see him going for this in a convoluted untraceable way. He needed some victim points after hosing Putin, who does not forget, and dealing with the consequences of that fiasco. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2016-01-14 15:13 |
| #1 I could see Recep being tipped off by his ISIS buddies and allowing this to happen. Don't forget, there's a different mindset at play in this part of the world with regards to 'collateral damage'. Promotes his 'we're all in this together' meme, and 'solidarity' with the western powers, plus obfuscates the Neo-Ottoman Empire's collaboration with the Daeshbags. (love that term) |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2016-01-14 09:05 |