wsm.ie: Mass murder in Ankara - the finger points at the
Turkish state by Andrew Flood - WSM (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
Graffiti has appeared at the site of the bomb explosion in Ankara yesterday that reads "It
was not terror that killed us, it was the state." This is reflecting the widespread belief
that the true origins of the bombing that killed around 100 people at the pro Kurdish
peace demonstration are to be found in Erdogan's AKP party desperate attempt to intensify
conflict in the hope of polarizing the electorate ahead of Novembers elections. The same
process in other words that those killed yesterday were demonstrating against. ----
Turkish election law doesn't allow a party that wins less than 10% of the vote to take any
seats. In the June elections the radical left and pro-Kurdish HDP ( Peoples' Democratic
Party ) acheived 13% of the vote, taking seats and denying the AKP a majority. Since then
Turkey has been ran by an interim prime minister. By intensifying conflict the AKP hopes
to drives the vote for the HDP back below that 10% bar, allowing the AKP to hold onto power.
This is the context to understand why the Turkish state blocked Twitter & Facebook in the
immediate aftermath of the bombing as pro government media sought to blame it on the PKK.
The huge spontaneous demonstrations in Istanbul and elsewhere yesterday suggest that few
who access the facts are liable to be fooled, hence the need to throttle social media.
Those killed included Anarcho-syndicalist Ali Kitapç?. Another anarchist in Turkey who
knew his writes on Libcom Ali was a great guy and a very dedicated class militant. He was
himself responsible for actual realisation of strike calls in his sector (railroad
workers) in Ankara. He was not supportive of actions of Kurdish movement. I think he went
to the demonstration for antimilitarist class action to end the civil war and bring peace.
He was active in his union which is connected to Disk [BTS which is affliated to KESK
Confederation]. He was in constant struggle to change it to an anarcho syndicalist union
at leas in practice. He even had ideas in last years to form another syndicalist union
with international unions in its sector to further the cause of the workers. I am going to
his funeral now."
In a press conference in the aftermath of the bombing Selahattin Demirtas the HDP chair said:
"We have reached a point where they (AKP) can almost accuse us of bombing our own rallies".
"The Prime Minister (Davutoglu) delivers a 30 minute long speech. In these 30 minutes, he
uses 20 of them to smear us (HDP). The PM holds a speech about the rally where over 100 of
our friends were massacred, but he is dedicating the largest portions of the speech to
threaten me".
"You are wrong if you think you can intimidate us by standing in front of the cameras and
point fingers and threaten us. We are not afraid of anything but god".
"Ankara, the capital of Turkey. Even if a single bird flies over the skies of Ankara will
the state know. This is the most surveiled city in the country. We hold a mass rally with
100 000 people, but there weren't a single security personnel to be found on the streets.
Look at their own rallies, the security checks start several blocks away".
Chris S. who witnessed the explosion and aftermath has posted on Facebook that "This was a
*trade union* and associations of engineers architects and doctors organised peace march.
The police completely disappeared before the explosions. The first police reaction after
the explosions was to tear gas the injured. The police arrived before the ambulances. I
saw with my own eyes ambulances kept waiting to let the police enter the area first.
There is no doubt in anyone's mind here who is responsible for this attack. The PKK are
about to announce a unilateral ceasefire in the runup to the general election, and it
seems these bombs are designed as an attempt to prevent that cease-fire from happening.
Turkey's deep state is in action in a big way and probably out of control. The HDP has
repeated calls for peace."
There will probably be a solidarity protest called in Dublin in the next days, keep an eye
on our social media for an announcement of details.
Related Link: http://www.wsm.ie/c/bombing-ankara-turkish-state-oct2015
