The 17 February bomb attack on a military convoy located between the parliament, ministries and armed forces headquarters has again raised questions about “security failures.” But the last massacre in Ankara, on 10 October 2015, raised more questions about “security connivance” that it did about “security failures” The reactionary and sectarian war policies that the […]
The 17 February bomb attack on a military convoy located between the parliament, ministries and armed forces headquarters has again raised questions about “security failures.” But the last massacre in Ankara, on 10 October 2015, raised more questions about “security connivance” that it did about “security failures”
The reactionary and sectarian war policies that the presidential palace and Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) have charted arm in arm with jihadist gangs has resulted in a number of attacks and massacres, with the 17 February attack in Ankara on a military convoy just the most recent.
At least 28 people were killed in the latest attack, while 61 more were injured.
Debate on security/intelligence failures
The attack, which Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu immediately blamed on the Turkey’s enemy du jour, the People’s Defense Units (YPG), occurred in the very center of Ankara, 150 meters from the Air Force Headquarters, 400 meters from the General Staff, 650 meters from the Turkish Parliament, 750 meters from the Interior Ministry and 850 meters from the Prime Ministry. The location, coupled with the fact that the assault was directed at a military convoy near personnel lodgings, has reawakened a debate over gross operational failures by security and intelligence services.
Demands for the resignation of Interior Minister Efkan Ala and National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Hakan Fidan began trending on Twitter in the wake of the bombing.
10 October Ankara Massacre: Security connivance, not security failure
Despite recent debates about security and intelligence failures, recent massacres under the AKP have occurred more as a result of connivance on the part of security services instead of a security failure.
In the Reyhanlı, Cilvegözü, Akçakale, Diyarbakır, Suruç and the 10 October Ankara massacres, members of jihadist gangs were able to infiltrate the country with ease and detonate their explosives under the watchful gaze of Turkey’s authorities.
The 10 October Ankara Massacre, which resulted in the deaths of at least 100 people at a peace rally, was conducted by suicide bombers who had been subjected to both physical and technical surveillance, even passing through a police roadblock on the way to the attack.
“There is no question of a security lapse,” then-Interior Minister Selami Altınok said alongside two other ministers after the 10 October Massacre. “Our governor’s office and police forces conducted checks on the location, while officers were also there. I don’t think there was any security failure regarding the rally.”
Altınok subsequently said “no” when asked if he would resign, while then-Justice Minister Kenan İpek famously smiled when also asked about whether he intended to quit.
Sendika.Org
