Bombing Exposes Divide In Turkish Politics
Tensions in Reyhanli mirror Turkish Alevis' frustrations over their unmet demands for recognition.
The harm inflicted on Turkey by the nearly one ton of explosives detonated in the terrorist attack in Reyhanli indicates a political motive well beyond the 51 dead, scores wounded and 293 homes, 62 cars and 452 offices damaged. A professional job that evokes the uncertain future of the horror in Syria, the attack has widened one of Turkey’s open fault lines.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is confident about who the perpetrator is. “The [Syrian] regime is behind this. It’s obvious,” he said over the weekend. “Certainly, there are people among us who provide them support — in political terms, too. … There are attempts to drag us into a sectarian conflict. We see their extensions, too.”
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu urged Sunnis and Alevis on Monday “not to fall into the trap” when he visited Reyhanli, in Hatay province on the Syrian border.
Their conclusions may be similar, but Turkey’s two arch-rival political actors see that the terror attack, the deadliest in the country’s history, has exposed the most fragile side of the social fabric.
