Bombing Shakes Erdogan’s Domestic Agenda

Since the terrorist attacks in Reyhanli on May 11 that left 50 dead, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been on the defensive. “These events have no near or far relation with the opposition forces,” he said Monday [May 13]. “[T]here are efforts here to cast suspicion on the opposition forces and launching operational actions against our refugee brothers in Turkey.”

While the Erdogan government tries to portray the people on the border region with Syria as being provoked against the government and express support for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, the social media knows no limits. “The people here are convinced that it’s not the Syrian regime, but the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to be behind these attacks, and they believe that the refugees were warned in advance of these blasts,” tweeted Ertugrul Kurkcu, pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party deputy, on Monday, as he paid a visit to offer his condolences to the mourning city of Reyhanli. “The ones who blame the FSA are not the Alevis, but people in Reyhanli who are majority Sunnis. They were expecting an attack to happen at any time.” Kurkcu moved on to tweet: “People are concerned that this sabotage and these attacks could be carried to Antakya in a way to create a clash between Alevis and Sunnis.”