Tragic Day in Turkey. Terrorists are Reponsible.

In a shocking development, there were five bombings in Turkey within a 24-hour period on Sunday. The worst one occurred in the popular Mediterranean tourist mecca of Antalya_ it killed three people and injured 87. There were three separate bombings in another tourist villa- Marmaris, just across the Mediterranean from the Greek island of Rhodes and about three hours west of Antalya. The worst of the blasts in Marmaris ripped a mini-bus apart. It injured a total of 21 people- 10 Britons and 11 Turks. The other blast of the day occurred in the Bagcilar neighborhood in Istanbul. It injured six people.

I obtained info for this entry from two different sources. The online version of the Turkish newspaper Miliyet reported that the Antalya blast occurred around 4:45 pm (Turkish time). The Miliyet article also said the terrorist group the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) founded by jailed militant Abduallah Ocalan was responsible for the blast. Miliyet reported that the bomb, believed to be located between two parked mopeds, struck the downtown area of Antalya. It broke windows and ultimately caused fires in restaurants, shops and banks. Miliyet said British ambassador Peter Westcott has issued a warning against British citizens wishing to travel in Turkey because of Sunday's events. The other source for my entry is the BBC World News. The news agency reported that authorities in Antalya were looking for two suspects in the blast. The BBC reported that a satellite group of the PKK called the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) claimed responsibility for the Istanbul and Marmaris bombings and issued a jubilant statement on their web site saying that 'tourists should not come to Turkey.'

The BBC said London resident Rob Laughton, 41, was having dinner with his wife and friends in Marmaris when the mini-bus explosion occurred.

"We just sat there and heard this almighty explosion---we saw the bus and bodies lying on the ground. We just thought, we just don't want to be here. We just ran away," Laughton said.

On a personal note, I am sickened by these attacks. Antalya and Marmaris are very nice towns. I've had the pleasure of visiting both of them. I hope those responsible are apprehended soon. I am also concerned that such heinous acts could add to ethnic tensions between Turks and Kurds. People on both sides have worked hard to improve things without resorting to these barbaric tactics, and I hope this fails to damage that resolve. And, lastly, I hope the Turkish tourism industry rebounds from this as it has from all such deviant acts in the past.

 

Links:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice