Answer to Question: What is Behind the Bombings Witnessed in Turkey?

Question:

On Saturday, 17/12/2016, a bombing occurred... (13 soldiers were killed on Saturday, and 48 others were wounded, including civilians, in a car bomb explosion near Erciyes University in Kayseri province, central Turkey, according to a statement issued by the Turkish Armed Forces...) (CNN Arabic, 17/12/2016). Two bombings had also occurred last Saturday night, 10/12/2016, near the Beşiktaş club stadium in central Istanbul, resulting in the death of 38 people, including 30 police officers, and the death toll finally rose to 44 people. A group called the "Kurdistan Freedom Falcons" claimed responsibility for the previous two bombings. Is it also behind the current bombing? What is the background of this organization? And what is the motivation behind these bombings? May Allah reward you with goodness.

Answer:

1. Regarding the Istanbul bombings on 10/12/2016, they were claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), as stated in the organization's announcement:

• ("The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons group, a splinter of the PKK, claimed responsibility on Sunday for two bombings outside a football stadium in the Turkish city of Istanbul that killed 38 people and wounded 155... In a statement on its website, the group, which has claimed responsibility for other attacks in Turkey this year, said it carried out the two attacks on Saturday evening... which shocked a country still trying to recover from a failed coup attempt and several bombings since the beginning of the year... Saturday's attacks occurred near Vodafone Arena, the stadium of the Beşiktaş football team, about two hours after a match at the stadium ended, and the attacks appeared to target police officers...") (Ankara-Reuters, 11 December 2016). Then the numbers increased: ("The death toll from the Istanbul bombings that occurred the day before yesterday, Saturday evening, rose to at least 44 dead, according to a toll published by the Ministry of Health and reported by the Turkish media. Health Minister Recep Akdağ told parliament in Ankara: 'It is very painful to lose 36 of our policemen and eight of our civilians in a bloody attack'...") (London: Asharq Al-Awsat Online - Monday - 12 December 2016).

2. As for the 17/12/2016 bombing, no party has claimed responsibility for it to date, but Turkish officials stated in their remarks that (today's) bombing is similar to the bombing of last Saturday, 10/12/2016: ("In the same context, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said that the materials used in the car bomb attack on a bus carrying off-duty soldiers in Kayseri in the center of the country are similar to those used in the Istanbul bombings last week. Kurtulmuş made this statement during an interview with NTV television. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed 13 people and wounded 55 others...") (Al Arabiya.net, Saturday 17 December 2016). ("For his part, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is responsible for the attack. Erdoğan explained in a statement that a 'separatist terrorist organization' is responsible for the attack, noting the link between such attacks and developments in Iraq and Syria. The Turkish president repeatedly uses the phrase 'separatist terrorist organization' to refer to the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, and Turkey...") (Al Arabiya.net, Saturday 17 December 2016).

Accordingly, it is most likely that the perpetrator of the 17/12/2016 bombing and the 10/12/2016 bombings is the same actor, i.e., the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons or the so-called "TAK".

3. As for the background and reality of this organization, we will explain it after outlining the developments of change within the PKK after the arrest of its founder, Öcalan:

a- Following the arrest of Öcalan in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in 1999, a six-member committee was formed to lead the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK). This system is characterized by a very complex structure compared to Kurdish parties in other parts of Kurdistan. The system practically consists of four major parties that include dozens of youth, student, women's, and social organizations, as well as service and security committees... These parties are: the PKK in Turkey, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria, the Democratic Solution Party (PCDK) in Iraq, and the Free Life Party (PJAK) in Iran. Each of these parties has its own leadership and organization, but ultimately falls under the umbrella of the Kurdistan Communities Union, which has been headed since that time (1999) by Murat Karayılan.

b- During Murat Karayılan's tenure, the PKK tended to soften its stance toward Turkey. Since the arrest of Abdullah Öcalan in 1999, the PKK's goals were reduced from demanding full independence for Kurdistan to obtaining cultural rights and a form of autonomy limited to Turkish Kurds. This followed understandings reached between the Turkish government and Öcalan, planned by America, and the subsequent period of calm between the PKK and the Turkish government...

c- The relationship between the PKK and the Turkish government continued during Murat Karayılan's era with a degree of softness and calm, according to the steps drawn by America to calm the situation between the Turkish government and the Kurds. Subsequently, a series of de-escalation measures followed, especially starting from late 2012:

• 16/12/2012: The head of the Turkish Intelligence Service, Hakan Fidan, visited Imrali Island and met Abdullah Öcalan there.
• 09/12/2012: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced on the government channel TRT that meetings were being held with Öcalan.
• 21/03/2013: Abdullah Öcalan's message was read before the crowds gathered for the Nowruz celebrations, in which he called for laying down arms and starting a political struggle. Öcalan said at the time: "The time has come to lay down arms and for armed elements to withdraw outside Turkish territory. This does not mean the end of the conflict. It means the beginning of a different kind of struggle."
• ("The United States welcomed the call of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan yesterday for the party's rebels to 'lay down their arms,' describing it as a 'positive step,' as did the Turkish government, while it sparked resentment among Turkish nationalists... State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that 'Öcalan's announcement of a ceasefire can help end the tragic violence that has continued for more than three decades in Turkey.' Nuland added that the United States also commends 'the brave efforts made by the Turkish government and all concerned parties to achieve a peaceful solution that will strengthen democracy in Turkey'...") (Al Jazeera Net, 22/03/2013).
• 04/04/2013: A "Wise People Committee" consisting of 63 people was formed, and they began touring Turkey to engage in dialogue for an agreed-upon solution to the Kurdish issue.
• 25/04/2013: Murat Karayılan, one of the leaders in the Qandil Mountains, announced before hundreds of journalists that the organization would begin the withdrawal process from Turkish territory starting from May 8, 2013.

d- This de-escalation and softness continued throughout Murat Karayılan's tenure, then things began to lean toward severity starting with the tenure of Cemil Bayık after the 9th PKK Congress and the election of Bayık to succeed Murat: ("The 9th PKK Congress was held in June and July in Qandil with the participation of 162 members, whereby changes occurred in the party leadership, and Bayık replaced Karayılan, leading the latter by three votes...") (Kurdistan Democratic Party website, 06/11/2013).

The change that affected the committee's presidency constituted, in the eyes of some Kurdish and Turkish circles, a political coup against the previous stage. A completely new leadership committee was elected, consisting of six people (three men and three women) headed by the prominent leader Cemil Bayık. It can be said that the change in the party leadership during the congress formed a new turning point in the party's strategy, both in terms of electing a completely new leadership and the policy to be followed in the coming stage... Subsequent events point to that policy:

• 05 July 2013: Cemil "Bayık", one of the military leaders of the PKK in the Qandil Mountains, was chosen along with Bese Hozat to head the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK).
• 31 July 2013: Cemil Bayık made statements to the BBC, confirming that the organization would stop the withdrawal process if the Turkish government did not take concrete steps by September 1st. He did not stop there but issued a warning regarding the return of the withdrawn elements to Turkish territory.
• 19 August 2013: Cemil Bayık stated that if the national reconciliation process were to fail, the security situation inside Turkey would deteriorate more than before.
• 09 September 2013: The KCK announced that the withdrawal of PKK elements from Turkish territory had completely stopped.
• 03 December 2013: Cemil Bayık delivered a speech on the latest developments in Turkey, saying: "If the situation continues like this, a war must break out in Turkey. We have given the Turkish government a chance to fulfill our demands until next spring; if these demands are met by the Turkish government, the problem will be solved through reconciliation. If our conditions are not accepted, we cannot continue in this manner with the Turks."
• 20 December 2014: Cemil Bayık said: "Laying down arms is considered like death for them."
• 12 June 2015: The head of the HDP, Selahattin Demirtaş, said that the PKK could lay down its arms based on the call of the organization's leader, Abdullah Öcalan. The KCK responded to him, saying: "Everyone must realize the following fact: the issue of abandoning the armed struggle against the Turkish state belongs entirely to us, and no one has the right to express an opinion on this matter. Everyone must also know that the HDP does not represent our political wing. Therefore, the leaders of the HDP cannot demand that we lay down arms, and we do not believe that our leader, 'Abdullah Öcalan,' will demand that we lay down arms under current terms and circumstances...
• We also want everyone to know that our decision not to lay down arms is not a rejection of Öcalan's demands, and we are not in the process of obstructing the political work of the HDP."
• 12/07/2015: The Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) announced on Sunday that the ceasefire concluded with Turkey since 2012 had ended, justifying this by "the Turkish state building dams and military sites"... This came in a statement issued by the co-presidency of the Executive Council of the KCK, in which it said: The Turkish state violated the terms of the truce... (ARA NEWS, 12/07/2016).
• 14/07/2015: One of the leaders of the KCK, Bese Hozat, wrote an article published in the newspaper Özgür Gündem titled "The next stage is the stage of war that the revolutionary people in Turkey will carry out."

e- It is clear from the above that the PKK during Murat's era was closer to the American line by implementing the American agreement for de-escalation between the PKK and the Turkish government, and that stage culminated in the signing of the peace agreement between them in March 2013... During that period, there was grumbling from some Kurds that led to splits and objections... The atmosphere of de-escalation during Murat Karayılan's era (1999-2013) angered some Kurds because they saw it as involving concessions... In this atmosphere, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons or the so-called TAK broke away from the PKK in 2004, having been linked to the PKK since its founding in 1993. It now operates independently, as it says. TAK emphasizes that its organization is independent and has no relation to anyone; they define themselves as "fedayee forces" structurally, and their primary goal is to strike the military structure of the Turkish army and sabotage the tourism sector... The Falcons' first operations were in 2005, targeting a tourist bus, which led to the death of 5 people and the injury of 20 others. Like Turkey, as of 2008, TAK was considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department and entered the list of foreign terrorist organizations; the European Union also considers it a terrorist party...

f- After the change that occurred in the 9th Congress elections and the arrival of Bayık's tenure in July 2013, the party began to lean toward the British line, targeting Erdoğan and his government with material actions such as bombings and killings... This was strongly reflected in the Falcons' activities, especially during the current year. The atmosphere was conducive for TAK to redouble its operations against Turkish security forces. Accordingly, the Falcons' activities escalated during this period. To shed light on those operations since late last year and then this year, where they increased in intensity until the last operation on 17/12/2016, we can clearly observe this matter:

• December 2015 - Targeting Sabiha Gökçen Airport in Istanbul with rockets; the attack led to the death of an employee.
• February 2016 - A car bomb explosion in Ankara; the attack killed 28 people, most of them soldiers.
• March 2016 - A car bomb explosion in Ankara killed and injured dozens.
• June 2016 - A car bomb explosion in the Vezneciler district of Istanbul, 11 dead and 35 injured, mostly police.
• October 2016 - A motorcycle bombing in the Yenibosna district of Istanbul, 10 injured.
• November 2016 - A car bomb explosion at the gate of the Adana Governor's building in southern Turkey, killing civilians and injuring dozens.
• 10 December 2016 - A double bombing in the Beşiktaş district resulted in the death of 44 people, most of them police, and the injury of about 200.
• 17 December 2016 - A bombing (killed 13 soldiers on Saturday, and 48 others were wounded, including civilians, in a car bomb explosion near Erciyes University in Kayseri province, central Turkey, according to a statement by the Turkish Armed Forces... quoting security sources that "the car bomb exploded near the entrance of Erciyes University, next to a bus carrying military personnel who were out for the weekend," while "police and ambulance crews rushed to the scene of the incident, which resulted in deaths and injuries who were taken to hospitals in the province amidst intensive security measures...") (CNN Arabic, 17/12/2016).

g- By studying all of the above, the political background of the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons becomes clear to us as follows:

After Cemil Bayık announced on 20/12/2014 ("Laying down arms is considered like death for them"), the PKK under Bayık's leadership began to harden its stance until it reached its peak on 12/07/2015, when the KCK led by Bayık announced the end of the ceasefire with Erdoğan's government... In a parallel line, the TAK organization became active in material actions against the vital interests of the Turkish government, especially security interests, until the two operations on 10/12/2016 and 17/12/2016.

This means that it is most likely that the background of the Falcons is that they are in harmony with Bayık's line, which is currently close to the European line, especially the British, against Erdoğan's rule, which is loyal to America.

h- This is confirmed by the fact that Cemil Bayık, one of the founders of the PKK, said on March 15, 2016, in statements to the British Times newspaper: "We want to overthrow Erdoğan and the AKP, because as long as Erdoğan and his party do not fall, there will be no democracy in this country"... (BBC, 15/03/2016)...

Also, the head of the Republican People's Party (CHP), the British agent Kılıçdaroğlu, said before the 72nd General Assembly of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) in the capital Ankara: "What is this presidential system? One person will speak and Turkey will be silent... This presidential system cannot be implemented in this country without bloodshed" (www.tna24.com 13/05/2016)...

i- From all this, it is clear that those behind the recent bombings in Istanbul are the British. As for the motive behind this, it does not go beyond the following matters:

• Creating a state of instability for the pro-American regime in Turkey, continuing the aftermath of the recent coup attempt carried out by British agents. They undoubtedly realize that it is not easy to change this regime in Turkey because Erdoğan has established strong pillars for America in Turkey, but they can influence through disruption and instability, which, if repeated, may weaken the pillars of the regime...
• This is from one perspective, and from another perspective, the parliamentary system in Turkey was established by England at the hand of its agent Mustafa Kemal after destroying the Khilafah in 1924, which means that Britain is the spiritual father of the parliamentary system in Turkey. Therefore, Erdoğan and America behind him want to close this door forever by changing the parliamentary system to a presidential system and giving the President of the Republic more powers, while Britain does not want this presidential system... The head of the CHP, the British agent Kılıçdaroğlu, had previously stated that this presidential system cannot be implemented in this country without bloodshed (the Turkish newspaper Sabah wrote in a headline "He insults the Council, the people, and politics," referring to the statements of the CHP leader, "Kılıçdaroğlu," who said: "You cannot implement the presidential system without bloodshed"...) (Turkey Post, 13/05/2016).

The conclusion is that Britain, through the acts of killing and bombings carried out by those loyal to it, including the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, wants to hit two birds with one stone: creating instability in the Turkish regime loyal to America, and at the same time, standing strongly against Erdoğan's attempt to declare a presidential system in place of the parliamentary system. As for what might be thought that these actions will lead to an autonomous region, this matter is unlikely, at least in the foreseeable future.

• In conclusion, it is truly painful that Muslim blood is shed not for the sake of Islam and the Ummah of Islam, but to achieve the interests of the colonialist kuffar... Nevertheless, this Ummah is an Ummah of goodness; it will rise, by Allah’s permission, after a slumber and stand up after sitting. The events of this Ummah’s history speak to that. Who would have expected the Ummah of Islam, after being invaded by the Crusaders then the Tatars, who destroyed the capital of the Khilafah, Baghdad, and turned the waters of the Tigris from clear and pure to red mixed with black due to the abundance of blood mixed with the ink of manuscripts shed into it—who would have expected that this Ummah, after such a state, would rise again and conquer Constantinople? Who would have expected it? But for Allah there are men who will not sleep on grievance and will not remain silent over injustice until they put matters rightly in their places and return the Righteous Khilafah to its seats, and their state is:

مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوا مَا عَاهَدُوا اللَّهَ عَلَيْهِ فَمِنْهُم مَّن قَضَى نَحْبَهُ وَمِنْهُم مَّن يَنتَظِرُ وَمَا بَدَّلُوا تَبْدِيلًا

"Among the believers are men true to what they promised Allah. Among them is he who has fulfilled his vow [to the death], and among them is he who awaits [his chance]. And they did not alter [the terms of their commitment] by any alteration." (Qur'an Al-Ahzab [33]: 23)

And truly and truthfully:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ بَالِغُ أَمْرِهِ قَدْ جَعَلَ اللَّهُ لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدْرًا

"Indeed, Allah will accomplish His purpose. Allah has already set for everything a [decreed] extent." (Qur'an At-Talaq [65]: 3)

21st of Rabi' al-Awwal 1438 AH 20/12/2016 CE