Turkey: Turkey on bid Laden's death and continued errorts against al-Qaeda

Hurriyet Daily News

Turkey 'satisfied' with killing of Osama bin Laden

The killing of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was welcomed with satisfaction by Turkish officials, one of whom expressed hopes for the forming of a similar global effort against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

“I welcomed [bin Laden’s] death with great satisfaction,” President Abdullah Gül told journalists at the Ankara airport ahead of a state visit to Austria on Monday.

“The way in which he was eliminated should serve as an example to everyone,” Gül said, adding that this killing, announced by U.S. President Barack Obama late Sunday in Washington, proved that terrorists and leaders of terror organizations will be eliminated sooner or later.

The Turkish president described al-Qaeda as the world’s most dangerous and sophisticated terror organization, while Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül noted that the group had mounted fatal attacks inside Turkey as well.

“I wish the entire world would make an alliance against the PKK the way it did against bin Laden,” Gönül added, speaking to reporters Tuesday.

In a written statement, the Foreign Ministry described the killing of bin Laden “as a very important step in the fight against terrorism.” Reiterating Turkey’s commitment to the global fight against terror, the statement called on all countries to embrace a similar line for the effort to succeed.

“Al-Qaeda and bin Laden have engaged in an unacceptable effort of trying to legitimize their terrorist activities by exploiting the religion of Islam,” the statement said, calling on all countries to cease trying to associate Islam with terrorism.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference, or OIC, led by Turkey’s Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, sounded a similar note in its statement on the killing of bin Laden, saying: “Terrorism is against the teachings of Islam and is considered as one of the most serious crime for which Islam has set most severe sanctions. The OIC has stated on many occasions the necessity of brining those who are responsible for terrorist acts to justice.”

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç also urged the world not to see Muslims as potential terrorists. “Portraying Muslims as terrorists is one the most negative attitudes we witness in today’s world,” he said in the northwestern city of Bursa.

Turkey is also a country struggling against terrorism, which it describes as a crime against humanity that cannot be associated with a particular religion, faith or ethnicity, Arınç said. He emphasized the importance of “creating a common platform for the fight against terrorism that would be supported by all countries” and “avoiding efforts to link terrorism with Islam.”

Also responding to the killing of bin Laden, Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Şahin said: “Those who live by the sword die by the sword. Every reasonable [person] should accept that nothing can be achieved through terror.”

Turkish police have regularly targeted suspected supporters of the Islamic extremist network since two sets of twin suicide bombings hit Istanbul five days apart in November 2003. A Turkish cell of al-Qaeda was held responsible for the attacks, in which explosive-laden trucks targeted two synagogues, the British Consulate and a British bank, killing a total of 63 people, including the British consul.

Seven men were jailed for life in 2007 over the bombings, among them a Syrian national who masterminded and financed the attacks.

“Though al-Qaeda has no strong base in Turkey, our security forces have been launching operations against its few sympathizers and sometimes detaining and even arresting them,” Arınç said.

A recent operation in April resulted in the detention of nearly 20 members of al-Qaeda’s Turkey unit.

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