Netanyahu condemns all terror in Turkey, and wants the same support in return. Illustrative image of Netanyahu. Photo Courtesy of UN-Photo/Marco Castro
Dozens are dead in a terror attack in Turkey that the government is blaming on a violent rebellion movement, not the typical radical Islamic terror that has struck around the world. But no matter who is behind it, Israel offered their condemnation of the attack… and expects that the Turkish response would be the same to any attacks in Israel.
“Israel condemns all terrorism in Turkey and expects that Turkey will condemn all terrorist attacks in Israel,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in comments released by his office on Sunday. “The fight against terrorism must be mutual.” Netanyahu’s comments come as Turkey has been supportive in the past of Hamas, a terror group ruling the Gaza Strip that has launched many attacks on Israel.
In fact, it was the Israeli interception of a ship from Turkey heading to Gaza—which was seeking to bust the Israeli blockade of Gaza’s ports rather than go through official channels—that led to Turkey’s shuttering its diplomacy with Israel for years. That situation finally resolved, Turkey’s ambassador to Israel arrived in the Jewish state the same night as the deadly attack in Turkey’s capital of Istanbul.
The Hurriyet Daily News reported that the Turkish government believes the bombing attack was carried out by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an ethnic group opposed to the Turkish government.
The Kurds—a minority in Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq—have proven to be a valuable ally as an ethnic group in the fight with ISIS, which is a delicate balance given that the powerful PKK is a designated foreign terror organization by the U.S.
This weekend’s attack in Turkey killed more than three dozen people, with the Hurriyet Daily News report quoting Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım as saying that “all terror groups are equally vile.”
Netanyahu highlighted that sentiment in his condemnation of the attack. With relations with Turkey on the rebound, Netanyahu took a moment to underscore the shared responsibility that both nations have to dealing with terrorism—regardless of who launches the attacks.
Said Netanyahu of the fight on terror, “It must be mutual in condemnation and in countermeasures, and this is what the State of Israel expects from all countries it is in contact with, including Turkey.”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, December 11, 2016)