The terrorist attack plays right into Erdogan's hands

 

Wolfgang Hansson 

 

Erdogan uses terrorist acts to pressure the West 

 

Published: Today 13.55 

 

Updated: Less than 3 hours ago 

 

This is a commenting text. Analysis and positions are the writer's. 

 

 COLUMNISTS 

 

Turkish President Erdogan was quick to use the terrorist act in Istanbul to pressure the West to label the Syrian Kurds, who were previously heroes in the West, terrorists. 

 

This at the same time as he blocked all information by more or less shutting down social media for more than half a day. 

 

There is no doubt that Turkey is a country that during the last 20 years has periodically been hit hard by terrorism. I have personally covered two acts of terrorism in the country. 

 

But it is always difficult to get a clear picture of who or who are behind the act. This despite the fact that the Turkish government is often very quick to point out the culprits. They are almost always about the terrorist-labeled Kurdish group PKK or the Islamic State. 

 

This time, the government claims it is the PKK in collaboration with the Syrian Kurds' political wing, the PYD. The terrorist act is even said to have been planned in the city of Kobane, which is controlled by the PYD and its armed wing the YPG. 

 

Image from the street before the explosion. The ring shows where it occurred. 

Erdogan's spokesman quickly seized on this weekend's terrorist attack on an Istanbul pedestrian street to put pressure on the United States and other Western countries that have hailed the PYD/YPG as heroes for their efforts in the NATO-led coalition that crushed the Islamic State's so-called caliphate. 

 

- The international community must wake up, says the president's communications director. Terrorist attacks against our civilian population are direct and indirect consequences of some countries' support for terrorist groups. These countries must immediately stop their direct and indirect support if they want to be friends with Turkey. 

 

 In plain language, Turkey wants the outside world to brand the PYD and YPG as terrorists. The PYD denied involvement in the attack. 

 

Sweden, the EU and the US have long classified the Turkish PKK as a terrorist organization but have treated the Syrian Kurds in a completely different way. Especially since they took up the fight against Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war and effectively acted as NATO ground troops when IS was defeated. 

 

Hook legs for Sweden 

 

That difference is an important reason why Turkey set the hook for Sweden's and Finland's NATO membership. Now Erdogan is using the Istanbul act to pressure the rest of NATO to buy Turkey's view of the situation. It is that the PKK and PYD/YPG are basically the same organization and are working closely together to undermine Turkey's security with the goal of eventually forming a Kurdish state out of parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. 

 

But as long as Joe Biden rules in the White House, it is very unlikely that the US would change its attitude towards the PYD/YPG. Which means that other NATO countries probably take the same stance. Although the US and a number of other NATO countries were very quick to condemn the act in Istanbul. 

 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrives at the G20 meeting in Indonesia, Sunday, November 13. Photo: Firdia Lisnawati / AP 

 

However, the outside world does not express any support for the Turkish government's decision to shut down Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram and other social media to "stop disinformation" and "spreading rumours" after the crime. 

 

Rather, it is seen as proof of Turkey's lack of democracy. The Turkish government wants to have total control over what information comes out and shape the image of who or who are guilty of the terrorist act. 

Erdogan has been on the warpath against social media ever since the 2013 protests against the construction of a mosque in Istanbul's Gehzi Park. 

 

Three years later, he introduced a law that gives the state the right to limit or completely shut down access to the internet and social media with the push of a button. It has happened a number of times, including when Turkey attacked the areas of the Syrian Kurds in a major offensive in 2019. 

 

The control of the Internet is only one of the democratic problems in Turkey, where many journalists are imprisoned, where almost all major media channels are controlled by the regime and where the courts are no longer independent. 

 

 

Big draw after the explosion. Photo: Francisco Seco/AP 

 

It is also not possible to ignore the fact that the latest act of terrorism in a way plays into Erdogan's hands ahead of the elections to be held this summer and in which opinion polls show that Erdogan risks losing. 

 

One way to turn the tide could be to show that he is tough on the terrorism that affects his own population. It is also in that light that his demand for Sweden to deport people that Turkey claims are terrorists should  be seen.