Bombings, Assaults on Reporters, Mar Erdogan Visit

On Thursday, March 31, 2016, a car bomb detonated beside a minibus carrying Turkish police officers in the city of Diyarbakir. Seven police officers were killed by the bomb and two dozen others were wounded. This marks another major car bomb in Turkey this year, as violence between government and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) forces increases.

Earlier today, April 1, 2016, the PKK took responsibility for the attack on the Turkish police forces. The PKK has been engaged in a brutal war with the Turkish government since 1984. The PKK has sought out an independent Kurdish state within Turkey, and the resulting conflict with the government has killed over 40,000 people. In 2013 a ceasefire was reached between the PKK and the Turkish government, but it was abandoned after the government began airstrikes against Kurdish positions in Iraq.

This bombing marks the second major bombing this month by Kurdish forces, and the fourth total this year. In February, two separate bombs targeting Turkish security forces killed 34 and wounded another 64. Both explosives targeted military convoys traveling through Ankara and Southeast Turkey, respectively. Earlier in March, Ankara was again targeted after a car bomb detonated besides a row of buses. The blast killed 36 and injured 127. It was originally believed both these attacks were carried out by the PKK, but both were later claimed by the Kurdish Freedom Falcons (TAK).

Soon after the bombing, Turkish forces began to target PKK positions in Northern Iraq with airstrikes. Turkish warplanes targeted the Zap and Metina regions that were home to Kurdish strongholds. There have been no further reports of the casualties as result of these attacks.

This attack on Turkish forces comes just a day before Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was set to visit the Southeast portion of Turkey, which is primarily made up of Kurds. The Erdogan regime, who PM Davutoglu serves, have been highly criticized by the Turkish people, as well as the Kurds, for severe civil rights abuses. The Erdogan regime has also linked the heavy restrictions on civil liberties to Kurdish protests in the Southeast, but it is not a point to forget that it was the same regime that instigated further violence between the Turkish government and the Kurds. The PKK may have been trying to keep PM Davutoglu out of the portion of the government heavily dominated by Kurds, so they attacked police forces in the area.

The bombing also correlated with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to the Brookings Institute, where he was to speak on the future of Turkey. While President Erdogan was to speak on challenges he would face in his own country, he faced another challenge when he arrived at the building. Kurdish and Turkish Americans lined the street opposite Brookings to protest the appearance of Erdogan. Erdogan’s security detail even aggressively targeted some of the protestors and journalists attempting to report on the speech. The security detail even attempted to forcibly remove a Turkish reporter already in the event, only to be blocked by an American security officer.

The current unrest in Turkey will continue to create a perfect atmosphere for the Islamic State (IS) to attack or move through the country. Earlier in March, IS struck Istanbul for the second time this year, killing four and wounding another 36. While Turkey focuses on suppressing the Kurds, it is allowing for other terrorist groups to make its way into its borders.

Erdogan and his regime currently face a growing conflict with the Kurds, but through the heavy-handed response to criticism and increased authoritarianism, he risks political unrest amongst the general Turkish population, including secularists and other regime opponents at a time when the security situation in Turkey is continuing to deteriorate.