Erdogan's take on terror attacks nicely fits AKP agenda
Despite the wide Western condemnation of the two latest terror attacks in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pointing the finger of blame westward in accordance with his party's narrative of persecution and defiance.
Turkey has been hit again by another wave of terrorism. On June 7, a busload of police officers was hit on a busy street in Istanbul’s tourism center. The next day, while the Turks were still reeling from the trauma of the Istanbul bombing, the country woke to the news of another attack that targeted the security headquarters in Midyat, once a symbol of Syriac identity and still a popular tourism spot with its historic old town and numerous Eastern churches.
The Istanbul terror attack was claimed three days later on June 10 by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), considered a breakaway faction of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). For those closely monitoring the PKK, the claim is rubbish. It is a Middle Eastern tradition that whenever an organization does not want to claim responsibility for a controversial action so as not to endanger its credibility with certain influential countries or individuals, responsibility is taken by so-called breakaway elements. TAK is no exception to this rule.
