Sanliurfa, where the governor recently had three journalists detained for daring to ask whether Islamic State (IS) militants expelled from Tell Abyad had penetrated the province, was bloodied by a suicide attack July 20.

About 300 young people, mostly university students associated with the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations on their way to support the reconstruction of Kobani, were attacked during a press briefing in Suruc; 31 of them were killed and 104 were wounded, shaking Turkey to its foundations once again.

At a July 11 conference in Samandag-Hatay, three young people approached me and said, “We are members of the Socialist Youth. We are launching a campaign for the reconstruction of Kobani. Will you support us with a video message?” I agreed, and the video they taped was released over the Internet. In photographs taken July 20 before the massacre, I saw them in a mass breakfast at Suruc with the families of Kobani victims. They were happy. A couple of hours later, many of them were torn to bits in a massive explosion.

I didn’t know any of them, but now I do. They are the latest victims of a dirty war waged in Syria by militants moved around in ships, planes and buses in the name of changing the regime.