Posted on 11/22/2003 9:25:55 AM PST by a_Turk
Here in Britain, the Istanbul bombs have provoked anguish, anger and anxiety in equal measure: anguish at the helpless suffering of the victims, anger at the pitiless cruelty of the terrorists, and anxiety at the prospect of further attacks on British targets.
Yet another emotion ought to come into play alongside anguish, anger and anxiety - solidarity. The natural tendency of any nation to look to its own should not blind us to the even more grievous blow inflicted on our Turkish allies.
Though al-Qa'eda had various ulterior motives in attacking two synagogues, a British consulate and a major international bank, in every case the great majority of casualties were Turks.
Nor was the location of these attacks accidental. Turkey, as the Muslim world's oldest and most successful experiment in secular democracy, is abominated by radical Islamists.
This unique attempt to reconcile Islam with modernity remains an exemplary model for other pro-Western governments in the Middle East, such as Egypt, Jordan or the Gulf states.
As such, its destabilisation is a high priority for al-Qa'eda, while other terrorist organisations such as Hizbollah and Hamas are hostile to Turkey because of its close relationship with Israel. Turkish governments have always co-operated well with America, which not unreasonably regards Turkey as a more loyal Nato ally than some European states.
The fact that Turkey did not participate in the overthrow of Saddam Hussein had less to do with lack of enthusiasm than with the understandable sensitivities of the Iraqi Kurds and unseemly haggling over the level of American subsidies.
Despite these minor irritations, Turkish relations with America and Britain remain good. The recent ascendancy of moderate Islamists over the secularist heirs of Atatürk has made no difference to Turkey's pro-Western policy.
This week's onslaught, which may mark the beginning of a sustained terrorist campaign, could be intended to prise Turkey away from its Anglo-American alliance.
If so, it will surely fail. Turks have uniformly reacted with horror and indignation to the terrorists' indiscriminate slaughter of fellow Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan. There is no backlash against the British or Americans among ordinary Turks; rather the contrary.
What resentment there is towards the West is directed against the European Union, which has again postponed consideration of Turkey's membership application until next year.
Jack Straw's hope that the Istanbul bombs might speed Turkey's progress looks like wishful thinking, given lingering European hostility, notably in France, dating back to the long feud between the Ottoman Empire and Christendom.
Though the impact of 70 million Turkish Muslims on Europe would be substantial, and the disparity in living standards is large, there are already large and successful Turkish communities in Britain and Germany.
A prosperous, well-integrated Turkey would pose no threat to Europe. An impoverished, excluded Turkey might fall prey to anti-Western Islamist movements.
This, then, is a moment to show solidarity with our Turkish allies. Al-Qa'eda deliberately chose to attack diplomatic, religious and commercial targets, symbols of the most cosmopolitan port in the Mediterranean.
In each of its incarnations – as Byzantium, Constantinople or Istanbul – it has been a citadel of civilisation. Istanbul, like Turkey itself, is no stranger to the barbarism that was unleashed against it this week, but this confluence of Orient and Occident, straddling Europe and Asia, will never succumb.
Turkey has chosen the Western path. That remains the right choice. Britons and Turks, Muslims, Christians and Jews, have died together for a common cause: the cause of freedom.
I've seen this reference for violence during Ramadan several times since the bombings. It's interesting that the violence being perpetrated in Iraq against Muslims several times per month year round doesn't prompt the same level of indignation. Important religious holiday or no....
Prairie
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