Ankara’s response

Turkiye has responded to bomb blasts with some stringent retribution. It spared no time in taking a decision, and flew sorties on militants’ hideouts in northern Iraq, and also went in for a combing operation at home. This indicated its determination to fight out terrorism, and that too without wasting anytime in lip-service or playing to the political gallery. Ankara’s highly security-cordoned enclave, which houses important government installations, was intruded on Sunday by two suicide bombers resulting in the death of both the assailants and injuring two policemen. While the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) staked claim for the misadventure, it had to face the music at the hands of a dispensation that prides on its inclusiveness and nationalism. Perhaps, that is the way to go as terror fissures raise their ugly head to test the resilience of developing societies.

Ankara was rocked for the first time since 2016, and it reminded the country that sits at the junction of Asia and Europe of its yesteryears, as it fought a faceless enemy in the form of incursions from Iraq and Syria. This is why President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was categorical in not only responding with full military might, but also resolved at the parliament that it’s time to flex the muscles and prove that … “we no longer live in a country where parliament shut down and coups were implemented.” This was a message in statesmanship to silence not only critics at home on the synopsis of the government, but also to send across a message to dreaded elements in and out that there is no room for nonsense.

Turkiye’s recourse to self-defence under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter by striking beyond its de jure borders will be read and reacted as a precedent. It goes without saying that the entire region from the Mediterranean to the Arabian Sea, and from Afghanistan to Pakistan is under a terror spell, as non-state actors are free to choose their targets, and get away. This tendency can only be stemmed with definite policy prescriptions, and Ankara has simply shown the way.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2023.

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