‘Global terrorism requires global response’
Turkey, as well as the US, should line up with Russia and other countries that are directly fighting terrorism and stop trying to aid it, international affairs analyst Colin Cavell told RT.
Turkey has faced a huge threat with multiple attacks this year. RT asked experts what steps the Turkish government may take against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) if it turns out the group is behind the attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport.
According to Colin Cavell, the attack will prompt Turkey to tighten security and increase military activity on the Syrian border.
“One would expect that and one should demand that. Whether the US pushes Turkey to do that or not, remains to be seen,” he said, adding that a global response is needed to fight global terrorism. “The US along with Turkey needs to line up with Russia and other countries that are directly fighting terrorism and not trying to aid it on one hand and fight it with the other.”
Also, Turkish President Erdogan has now to decide “if he is going to meddle in the Islamic narrative, which ISIS claims to control and dominate,” says Cavell.
As a historic successor to the secular republic set up by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Erdogan should “stick to that and fight ISIS,” Cavell says, adding that otherwise “ISIS is going to continue to demonstrate that it controls the Islamic narrative within Turkey.”
He explains Turkey has created problems for itself. There have been allegations, of Turkish oil dealings with ISIS, and terrorists freely crossing the border.
“By flirting with ISIS and by allowing the takfiri jihadis fighters to go and travel via Turkey to Syria through Ataturk airport and across its borders and supplying them with weaponry, etc. the government of President Erdogan has put itself in a conundrum,” he said. “One the one hand, it has helped to fund these terrorist fighters. On the other hand, now that they are starting to cut off different avenues of aid for them, they are striking back, basically to chastise Erdogan for cutting off these previously available avenues of funding equipment; but also - and more importantly - to demonstrate to Erdogan that they control the Islamic narrative in Turkey, not him,” Cavell added.
Why aviation terrorism is attractive?
Counter-terrorism expert Richard Bloom named to set of measures that could be looked at following the terrorist attack in Istanbul.
“There are political issues, dealing with supporting the enemies of people who use the label of IS. [Also], there are pure aviation security issues dealing with technology, uniform,…and human security personnel doing a better job in relating those kinds of capabilities with intelligence information; the nature of the risk; the nature of the vulnerability; the nature of the threat – putting all of that together. It is not necessarily just using more security resources, but how you integrate that with the information you have,” he said.
Earlier this year the airport in Brussels became the target of a terrorist attack.
“Unfortunately, in the world we live in aviation terrorism, aviation related terrorism, is a very attractive means of trying to achieve power in various political, religious and even sociological goals. And here is why: you implement an attack, and almost immediately, almost instantaneously information about the attack goes all over the world. Aviation is attractive, because of how it affects the economy on a global basis. It also affects legal political, economic and other kinds of authorities, and people react with fear, anxiety, anger,” Bloom said.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
