Turks learn terror's pain, fear

Jerusalem Post ^ | Nov. 23, 2003 | ERIK SCHECHTER

[yonif]

This Shabbat, there were no prayers uttered at the Beth Israel Synagogue.

Instead, workers bricked up the front of the gutted house of worship, one of two struck by truck bombs in Istanbul last Saturday.

In the Beyalu neighborhood on Shabbat, the bombed-out Neveh Shalom Synagogue was also bereft of worshipers.

Twenty-three were killed in the dual terrorist attack attributed to the Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front, a local Islamist group affiliated with al-Qaida.

Taking extra security precautions, the Istanbul Jewish community kept secret the location of alternative sites for weekend services. At Beth Israel, what furniture that could be salvaged – book shelves, lockers, and prayer stands bearing the Star of David – was loaded up on the back of a pick-up truck.

But the Jews were not the only ones moving off of Nakiye Elg n Street.

The 400-kilo explosive that took out the synagogue also ravaged nearby apartment buildings, at least two of which were so badly damaged that they will have to be demolished.

Dozens of Muslim families, many lacking the insurance to cover the devastation, have been forced to leave their condemned apartments. "We never were afraid living next to a synagogue," said Selqe Bed k, a honey-haired banker who lived across the street with her husband. "The Jews were our neighbors and friends."

Bed k was in her bedroom when the blast went off last Saturday morning.

The bomb blew out the windows and tore a hole through a concrete-and-plaster wall separating her living room from her kitchen.

"I ran barefoot out of my building and sliced my feet," she said, surveying the overturned and splintered furniture in her living room. "The acrid smoke from the bomb burned my eyes." Her husband was outraged about the terrorist attack, especially that it occurred during the holy month of Ramadan.

"The people who did this are not Muslims," he said. "Otherwise, they would know that we all worship the same God."

"If the bomb had gone off just a little later in the day," said one neighbor, a 55-year-old woman who lived with her mother and blind brother, "more people would have been in their living rooms. Hundreds could have been killed." Part of the truck bomb landed in her top-floor apartment's living room. When she led her brother to street level, she would not tell him what she saw: the decapitated head of her neighbor, along with other body parts, scattered on the street. She is still afraid of more terrorist attacks, asking that her name not be mentioned.

Selqe Bed k heard the news of Thursday's bombings at the HSBC Bank and British Consulate while she was apartment-hunting in Anatolia. "I started to cry," she said. "I knew their pain, I knew their fear."

Some Turks talk of being afraid to go near American buildings, which have not yet been hit, out of fear that the bombings are motivated by opposition to Anglo-American intervention in Iraq. Others, like guitar teacher Emre Sen, say that to change his daily schedule would be to give in to the terrorists.

"I have American, British, and Jewish friends," he said. "Those who did these attacks aren't human." While most Turks have rallied under the anti-terrorism banner, a few wonder whether their country has not gone too far with its pro-Western foreign policy and whether it is now paying the price for Israel's position vis-a-vis the Palestinians.

"Israel is treating the Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews," said 37-year-old Irfam Olgac, without a hint of rancor. "It just enrages the radicals in the Middle East."

[yonif]

"Israel is treating the Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews," said 37-year-old Irfam Olgac, without a hint of rancor. "It just enrages the radicals in the Middle East."

Even after terror hits his home, this guy still does not get it.

[Mr. Mojo]

Don't expect the Turks to ever "get it." It is, after all, a nation with a 99.9% Muslim population (according to the World Almanac). Show me Muslims that blame Palestinian terrorist orgs and their state sponsors in the Arab world for the conflict in Israel, and I'll show you rare birds......and ones that are frightened for their lives.

[a_Turk]

People have a right to think what they will. And be sure to realize that, assuming that they are smart, people will only be able to assimilate and synthesize data which is available to them.

Why do you think there are so many Americans who haven't a clue about Turkey and will fall into the trap of the Greeks etc? Because we have taken the high road for some bullshit reason and haven't provided them with data.

If the arabs can spend their millions to influence Turkish minds, so can the Jews. Taking the high road is stupid. We must engage our enemies, as well as our allies, on all fronts.

We should all blame ourselves first for our predicaments.

[Mr. Mojo]

The truth hurts, doesn't it?

[Travis McGee]

Cool it. If there is any hope for a reformation to drag the Islamic world into the 21st century, it's going to come out of Turkey. If the Turks can't get a grip on this, then I'll admit it's hopeless. But I still have faith in the Turks. Where did these very Jews run to when they were ethnically cleansed from Catholic Spain in 1492? To Turkey, where they have had a home for five centuries. Turkey is our last best hope for reforming Islam; don't crap on our allies in this world war.

[Mr. Mojo]

Allies would've allowed us to stage an invasion of Iraq from their territory.

To repeat, my point is was that the vast majority of Turks continue to blame Israel and the U.S. for the world's terrorism, and not the true culprits. Do you dispute this? If not, then YOU cool it.

[a_Turk]

>> the root of terrorism in this world can be seen in your mirrors,

Blah blah blah..

That was an evolving thought there, I guess..

The root can be seen..

Idiot!

You're supposed to say: "You are at the root of all terrorism," but then you suddenly remembered Bogota, Belfast, etc.

I would laugh, if I wasn't so pissed.

Damned morons all gotto go..

[Mr. Mojo]

LOL.....you're damned near incoherent.

[a_Turk]

>> To repeat, my point is was that the vast majority of Turks continue to blame Israel and the U.S. for the world's terrorism, and not the true culprits. Do you dispute this? If not, then YOU cool it.

Vast majority, huh? That's some assumption. I'll dispute it for Travis, and will challenge you: Show me your sources you sorry excuse for a cereberum!

I am not the ally of your individuum, wear an armband to identify yourself if and when the time comes.

[Travis McGee]

Turkey made a mistake based on their own internal political realities. We are all winding up in the same lifeboat, we are going to have to learn to paddle in the same direction. If the Turks can't get a handle on their terrorists, then I'll admit it can't be done. Until then, I wish them the best of luck.

[Mr. Mojo]

Alright, I'll dig up a poll or two for you. But let's start with you first, Turk boy (although I'd imagine you're far from representative). Do you blame Palestinian and other Islamist terrorist orgs and their Arab sponsors for the terrorism committed throughout the Middle East and the world, or Israel and/or the U.S.?

[Mr. Mojo]

If the Turks can't get a handle on their terrorists, then I'll admit it can't be done. Until then, I wish them the best of luck.

So do I. And I have confidence that they can. My point was not that Turkey is some sort of hotbed of terrorism (which it clearly is not), but that Israel and the U.S. are being blamed unjustifiably my their masses. But then again, the situation is similar in Europe as well (according to the poll that was released last week), with the Israel being named the greatest threat to world peace, and the U.S. coming in at #2.

[Mr. Mojo]

Turkey is our last best hope for reforming Islam

Yeah, that's been the case for many years now. But I think the new best hope lies in Iraq.

[a_Turk]

How many pages do you want?

I will blame the US for allowing you to remain as ignorant as you are. After all, If a nation is to become the security mechanism of a global economy, then that nation will have to comprehend more than a 6.5 year old can.

When a terror organization commits terror acts, then only a fool would blame little red riding hood instead.

And there are fools all over the world, who will believe anything no matter how out there just to convince themselves that they are no fools at all..

Beyond that, We're not descendants of regurgitating beasts lacking canine teeth. We all bite and tear. So if I were to be philosophical then I'd blame the primal nature of man beyond anything else.

So quit the stupid generalizations. If you were able to read Turkish I'd have hundreds of comments by regular Turkish men and women for you to read which contradict your perception of reality.

[a_Turk]

>> Turks learn terror's pain, fear

What a line of horseshit!

LOL!

There wasn't even a modern day Israel when we were learning to deal with terror. Newbies are sloppy at first.

What a patronizing title!

Are you drawing a blank on this? Do you really think that this is new to us? You are rather young, are you not?

Terror is nothing new in our corner of the world, and it has not been exclusive to any religion there, trust me. Just consider the Greeks on Cyprus, the Armenians throughout the Ottoman empire - I won't be surprised if you're clueless on this, or the Greeks who moved into Western Turkey at the end of WW1. Don't forget the Serbs during the breakup of Yugoslavia..

Terror comes with the territory in the middle east and the Balkans. Read Balkan Ghosts by Kaplan.

Welcome to the neighborhood.