Georgia‘s Turkish honorary consul general, Mona Diamond Sunshine, has condemned a suicide bombing in Ankara, the nation’s capital, that left nearly 100 people dead and more than 240 injured at latest count, stoking security fears in a country that has largely kept Islamist extremist violence outside its borders.
As Honorary Consul General of Turkey in Georgia, I personally condemn these bombings. The American Turkish Friendship Council and the entire Turkish community in Georgia join me as we mourn the dead as a result of this act of terror. Our condolences go out to the families of those who have lost their lives. We pray for a speedy recovery to those injured and ask for unity and solidarity against terrorism. May we pray for peace in Turkey and peace in the world.
The Consulate General of Turkey in Miami, which includes Georgia in its jurisdiction, issued a similar statement on Facebook on Oct. 10, the day that two explosions, minutes apart, ripped through a pro-Kurdish peace rally.
We strongly condemn the terrorist attack in Ankara, Turkey, today. We express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims, their families, and our nation.
The attack complicates the security picture in Turkey, which had already been dealing with the aftermath of an attack carried out on the U.S. consulate in Istanbul and a bombing in Syrian border town of Suruç, which killed more than 30. At the urging of the U.S., its NATO ally, Turkey recently stepped up campaigns against ISIS, the extremist group controlling large swathes of Syria and northern Iraq. But some alleged the Turkish government was using the move as a pretext to renew airstrikes against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a Kurdish rebel group designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and Turkey.
Ozgur Kivanc Altan, the Turkish consul general in Miami, dismissed that sentiment in an August interview with Global Atlanta, saying Turkey fights extremism — period. ISIS and the PKK, while ideologically divergent, are of the same ilk, he said.
“We don’t really make a distinction where the terrorists come from. We take terrorism as a menace in its own right, on its own integrity. For us, it’s all really terrorists,” he said at the time.
A cease-fire between Turkey and the PKK broke down in June, though the PKK said on Oct. 10 it would halt new attacks unless targeted. PKK militants have killed dozens of Turkish soldiers in recent attacks amid escalating violence ahead of Nov. 1 elections, which the Turkish government has said will go on as planned.
The government has reportedly said it has uncovered “concrete evidence” that the Ankara attack was carried out by ISIS, but the group has not claimed responsibility.
Read more from the interview with Mr. Altan about Turkey’s complex security imperatives here.
Learn more about Ms. Diamond Sunshine’s American Turkic Friendship Council here.
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