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Turkish Suicide Bomber Did Not Act Alone

Semih Idiz ponders some of the questions about the terrorist attack on the US embassy in Ankara, such as who provided the explosives and was there any support from outside Turkey?
Turkish police forensic experts inspect the site after an explosion at the entrance of the U.S. Embassy in Ankara February 1, 2013. A suicide bomber killed a Turkish security guard at the U.S. embassy in Ankara on Friday, blowing the door off a side entrance and sending smoke and debris flying into the street. Ankara Governor Alaaddin Yuksel said the attacker was inside U.S. property when the explosives were detonated. The blast sent masonry spewing out of the wall of the side entrance, but there did not ap

As the dust settles in the US Embassy bombing in Ankara, questions have started to be asked already about whether there was a serious lapse in security on the part of Turkey, as well as some European countries, given that the suicide bomber involved was known to have a record, and yet appears to have traveled freely. He did under an assumed name, from Germany, entering Turkey from Greece in order to carry out this attack. 

Many are wondering if the attack, which killed a Turkish security guard and seriously injured a well-known television reporter, could have been prevented with more vigilant surveillance and international cooperation against terrorism. Prompting these questions is the fact that Ecevit Sanli, who carried out the attack on the US Embassy, was a well known member of the ultra-left wing Revolutionary People's Liberation Army-Front (DHKP-C), which is designated as a terrorist group internationally.

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