"Why isn’t Turkey getting the same sympathy as Paris after attack?"

[DetlefK]

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/06/why-isnt-turkey-getting-the-same-sympathy-as-paris-after-attack/comments/#disqus

The threat faced by Turkey from the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) is real. Major attacks in Turkey attributed to ISIS have killed some 150 people in the past 12 months. Rocket attacks from ISIS-held territory into Turkish border towns are frequent. ISIS did not officially claim responsibility for Tuesday’s attack, but the Turkish authorities pointed the finger.

...

The early criticism leveled against Turkey has centered on the inadequacies of its security setup. These critics have ignored the mounting challenges Ankara faces across the country in having to contend with the threat of political and Islamist extremism.

Turkey has also been combating the growing insurgency waged by armed Kurdish separatist groups such as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons. Over 70 people were killed in major attacks by these groups in the first six months of 2016. The almost daily clashes and increased security activity by Turkish forces in the southeast of the country are already straining their capacity.

The U.K. and U.S. designate these groups as terrorists, but there is little international support, or even sympathy, for Turkey in its attempts to deal with the threat of both Kurdish and Islamist attacks.

...

While Britain has voted to withdraw from the EU, Turkey has been strengthening its relationship with regional partners like Israel and Egypt, as well as trying to repair relations with Russia following the downing of a Russian jet last year.

...

Turkey understands the need for cooperation in helping to strengthen efforts against extremist attacks, but despite being a NATO member, it appears that many in Europe and the West are reluctant to afford Turkey the same opportunity. And yet this is a time for unity in the face of a transnational ideology.

The attacks in Paris and Brussels drew countries and peoples across Europe together in solidarity. Turkey, a regular victim of violence, does not need to be scapegoated, ostracized or criticized in the aftermath of this attack. It needs our support.





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1. Erdogan's government indirectly supported ISIS in its early days by giving ISIS free reign to pass through Turkey and use it for recruiting.

2. Erdogan's government indirectly supported ISIS by not stopping the oil-smuggle. It only stopped when Russia started bombing the smugglers.

3. Erdogan has intentionally opened a new war with the Kurds, long after the Kurds had started fighting ISIS. Turkey is fighting kurdish forces in Syria right now, indirectly supporting islamic extremists, to prevent the Kurds from gaining political leverage.

4. Turkey did nothing, absolutely NOTHING, when a (supposed) ISIS-bombing killed turkish volunteers in Suruc. No arrests, no investigations, NOTHING.

5. Turkey is trying to repair its relationship with Israel after ruining it by needlessly messing with Israel in the "Mavi Marmara"-incident.

6. Turkey is trying to repair its relationship with Russia after ruining it by shooting down a russian warplane that was bombing turkmen rebels in Syria that were secretly allies of Turkey.

7. Turkey understands the need for cooperation except when Erdogan is trying to blackmail the EU to use the refugee-crisis for political concessions. And except when satirists and journalists get thrown into jail for criticizing Erdogan.

8. That "transnational ideology" that the author somehow forgets to name is "Saudi-funded sunni extremism".

9. Turkey, the "regular victim of violence", is waging an actual war against the Kurds.




Don't cuddle up to terrorists and then beg for sympathy when they come back to bomb you.

[Exilednight]

1. middele-easterners killing middele-easterners doesn't

Have the same effect. Id they were white euros, he'd get his bump.

[romanic]

2. "Don't cuddle up to terrorists and then beg for sympathy when they come back to bomb you."

I want to say this to everyone who tries to be outraged about the lack of sympathy for Turkey in comparison to Paris/Brussels/Orlando/etc. It's not an issue of racism or xenophobia; it comes down to the Turkish government enabling ISIS, allowing it's border with Syria to allow anyone and everyone in and out to join ISIS or ISIS operatives to enter Europe, and the sneaky oil deals it has with ISIS itself. Not to mention the government increasing it's Islamic influences in it's secular government, it's outrage over Germany acknowledging it's involvement in the Armenian genocide, and the oppression they dole out against the Kurdish people.

tl;dr version: Fuck the Turkish government. I sympathize with the Turkish people but their government isn't worthy of such global sympathy.

[mainer]

3. I find this offensive

People in Istanbul didn't want Erdogan in power. They are like our blue states, saddled with George W Bush. They are victims of both ISIS and the policies of a leader they despise. You think they don't deserve sympathy as victims?

They are not cuddling up to terrorists. The Turks I know are working to save Yazidis and Syrian refugees. They are fighting for women's and gay rights. They deserve our condolences.

[Orrex]

4. ^^That

[malaise]

5. The West want Erdogan

You're right that the people in Istanbul don't want him.

Poor Turkey is caught between a rock and a hard place

[DetlefK]

7. If in doubt blame the West. Always blame the West. Always.

Pleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplease elaborate why the West would possibly want Erdogan to be in power in Turkey.

Is it because he is easily insulted and hot-headed?
Is it because he craves power?
Is it because he doesn't like democratic elections and keeps redoing them until the result is to his liking?
Is it because he is a nationalist who wants to make Turkey a regional power-player in the Middle-East?
Is it because he spits on western values like freedom of speech and a free press?
Is it because he is using legal loopholes to pack the judgeships and attorney-generals with partisan lackeys?
Is it because he's bombing the very guys that are the West's allies in the fight against ISIS?
Is it because he made a complicated situation more complicated by emboldening ISIS to topple Assad?




"9/11! 9/11! 9/11!"
"WMDs! WMDs! WMDs!"
"Benghazi! Benghazi! Benghazi!"
"It's the fault of the West! It's the fault of the West! It's the fault of the West!"

[LanternWaste]

8. I'd pretend the post was blame as well.

I'd pretend the post was blame as well-- it's the easiest and most convenient form of denying opinions which don't validate ours.

[oberliner]

6. They are

Last edited Thu Jun 30, 2016, 03:18 PM - Edit history (1)

In fact, it seems like whenever a terrorist attack happens in a place like Paris, we get posts about how we shouldn't be too sympathetic because there are other places that also suffer attacks. It is so weird. Like people are supposed to feel guilty for being sad about attacks in Paris and Brussels.

[Igel]

9. True.

There are even those whose attitude is that the West deserves it. We started it, somehow. Or our domestic political foes did.

Oddly, that really isn't blaming the victim, it's blaming the government that the victims live under. The same thing happens when Texans have some problem--the rush to judgment is insane, condemning the nasty fascists when they know nothing about the individuals killed but just see top-level state politics ... often skewed.