Call out the Turkish army to take out the Islamists

Tragedy strikes in Ankara:

"A bomb ripped through one of the city's busiest commercial centers Tuesday, killing four people and wounded more than 50, the mayor said.

The blast outside one of the oldest shopping malls in Ankara hurled glass and other debris over a wide area. A body, covered in a white sheet, lay outside the building.

Private NTV television, quoting police sources, said the bomb was made of plastic explosives, the type favored by separatist Kurdish rebels. There was no immediate claim of responsibility."

Considering all the huge pro-secularism marches in Turkey lately, though, I'd be highly suspicious of Islamic extremists. And think of this -- if they tried to pin it on Kurds by mimicking their M.O., Islamists could benefit in destabilizing northern Iraq (aka the sane area) if Turkey went after Kurdish rebels or Kurdish sympathizers.

But this is certain: If this was the work of Islamists, it is the job of the Turkish army -- avowed defenders of secularism and Ataturk's vision -- to rise up and wipe out the extremists. This is an act of war, and so much hangs in the balance.

Comments

[Senthil]

I do believe there are fairly accurate reports that indicate not only Kurdish separatist bombings in the past 3-4 years, but a backing from Kurdish Iraq.
On what evidence do you base this idea that it's Islamic extremists that carried out this bombing with the intention of implicating Kurdish separatists destabilising northern Iraq?

[Dave]

This is the same secular army and secular movement which committed genocides against millions of Christians in Turkey?

[Senthil]

Firstly it was millions of Armenians. Yes, they were Christians, but this was not the factor that instigated the genocide. During WW1 the Ottoman Empire waged war on Russia in the Caucasus and they lost disastrously. The Minister for War, a man named Enver blamed the Armenians living in the region for helping the Russians. He then fed propaganda into the country to convince them that Armenians were a liability in terms of national security. What followed this is the genocide.
Secondly it wasn't the same secular army, in fact it was the completely different secular army of the Ottoman Empire nearly 90 years ago, most of whom are probably dead. This was prior to Ataturk's establishment of modern Turkey with it's current army.