Turkey to clean up borders after series of attacks, turmoil

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Turkey to clean up borders after series of attacks, turmoil 2

Turkey wants to ‘completely cleanse’ its borders of Islamic militants.

This comes days after a suicide bomber set off a device at a wedding and killed more than 50 people.

Though no one claimed responsibility, the Turkish government blames ISIL.

CCTV’s Natalie Carney reports from Istanbul on the presence of those militants in Turkey.
Follow Natalie Carney on Twitter @NatalieCarney77

Jamila Ozturk lost her 18-year-old nephew and other relatives at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport in June when a coordinated suicide attack took place and killed more than 40 people.

While no group claimed responsibility for the attack, Turkish officials said the evidence points to ISIL.

On Saturday, more than 50 more were killed at a Kurdish wedding reception in southern Turkey. And the attack has also been blamed on ISIL terrorists.

Earlier this year 17 tourists were murdered in two of Istanbul’s most popular tourist locations in two separate suicide bombings. Last October, more than 100 people died in a double suicide bombing at a Kurdish peace rally in Ankara, which followed an attack on a gathering of Kurdish youth in the border town of Suru last July that killed 33 people.

In fact, these series of attacks indicate that Turkey has in fact become what its foreign minister says: ISIL’s ‘number one target.’

“Up until 2014 there weren’t any restrictions on any recruits or volunteers or members of radical Islamic groups who were transiting Turkey,” said terrorism analyst Gareth Jenkins. “And then we began to get increasing restrictions, which then led to more tensions between ISIL and the Turkish authorities.” Jenkins explained that Turkey’s restrictions increased tensions between ISIL and Turkish authorities.

To cleanse ISIL from its border areas, the Turkish government says it will take a more active role in bringing an end to Syria’s civil war. On Monday evening Turkey fired artillery on ISIL positions in northern Syria.

Turkey has also arrested hundreds believed to be associated with ISIL and is working more closely with European intelligence.

However, while the government is taking more active measures against the terrorist organization, many locals still blame the government for not doing enough to defend its people.

On the other hand, after ISIL started losing territory in northern Syria to the Kurdish militia group YPG, ISIL has singled out foreigners and Turkey’s Kurdish community for what appears to be revenge attacks in Turkey.  

In another offensive move, reports are emerging of an imminent Turkish operation to oust ISIL operatives from the northern Syrian border town of Jarablus- a move that will embroil Turkey further in the Syrian war and some fear, intensify the terrorist group’s revenge attacks on Turkey.


Ivan Eland on Turkey’s border controls

To further discuss Turkey’s homeland security outlook and the fate of Muslims in Turkey, CCTV America’s Asieh Namdar spoke with Ivan Eland, director of the Center on Peace and Liberty at the Independent Institute.