Contrary to the statements of Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu, the findings related to the terrorist attack in Taksim point to Turkey-backed jihadist groups in Syria.
Immediately after the attack, Soylu said, "Within the framework of the findings we have obtained, PKK/PYD terrorist organisation. The instruction came from Kobani... The perpetrator travelled from Afrin". In his second statement, he said "We do not accept the condolences of the US Embassy" and added that the perpetrators of the attack were supported by the US and that there was a plan to smuggle the attacker to Greece and kill her there.
These statements complement each other like parts of a scenario: The address of the attack was the organisations in the Kurdish Autonomous Administration in Syria, against which the Erdoğan administration has long wanted to launch an operation. This attack seems very useful in terms of putting pressure on the US for an operation against the Kurds. Moreover, with the escape plan, the scenario is completed with Greece, where tensions have recently escalated!
It is questionable to what extent Soylu's "quick" solution of the attackers, those who ordered it and the forces behind it convinced even President Erdoğan this time. Because after the PKK attack on a police house in Mersin, Soylu said that one of the perpetrators of the attack was Dilşah Ercan, codenamed "Zozan Tolan", who was included in the CHP's 2011 "report on imprisoned journalists", and after this statement, Erdoğan had declared the CHP as "supporters of terrorism". However, it was later revealed that Dilşah Ercan had nothing to do with the attack.
After the Taksim attack, Erdoğan, without mentioning the name of the Minister of Interior, merely said "The information conveyed to me by my governor is that there is a smell of terrorism".
Indeed, the connections of Ahlam Albashir, who is said to have carried out the attack and who is described as a "special intelligence officer of the PKK/PYD/YPG", refute this scenario one by one.
Firstly, an Arab woman named Ahlam al-Bashir was used in the attack, and Arab media reports suggest that she could be from Ethiopia, Sudan or Somalia, not Syria. Why would the Kurds, who have women's units such as the YPJ that have proven themselves in the fight against ISIS, use an Arab woman attacker?
Kurdish militants use code names, but for some reason this attacker did not have a code name, or was forgotten to be added to the script!
Moreover, not only the PKK, the PYD and the SDF, which were named as the addresses of the attack, denied these allegations, but the Foreign Relations Department of the Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria also said that Ahlam al-Bashir was not registered in their region and called for "the establishment of an impartial investigation commission to reveal the facts and present them to Turkey and the international public opinion".
Ammar Jarkas, who is said to have planned the attack, is an Arab from Aleppo. Journalist Abdülkadir Selvi, the media pillar of the scenario, claims that Ammar Jarkas came to Turkey one year ago. However, the information revealed shows that Jarkas has been in Turkey for 8-9 years and established a car rental company in Istanbul in 2020.
Coincidentally, Ammar's Facebook account contains photos of him with a tank and a Sultan Murad Brigade banner.
The Sultan Murad Brigade is one of the jihadist groups backed by the Erdoğan government in Syria. The Sultan Murad Brigade, one of the groups within the Free Syrian Army (FSA/SMO), which Erdogan calls Syria's 'national army', also has close ties with the al-Qaeda affiliate HTS.
It should also be noted that Afrin, which was announced as the attacker's transit point, and Azaz, where Husam A, one of the suspects of the attack, was captured, are under the control of HTS-backed FSA groups.
Moving on, who is the person in charge of smuggling Ahlam al-Bashir abroad?
Ahmed Jarkas, Ammar's brother.
The only Kurdish involvement in the scenario is the Afrin family living in the house where Ahlam and Ahmed were captured.
Zekeriya and Emine Heso from Afrin have lived in the house in the Kanarya neighbourhood of Küçükçekmece where Ahlam al-Bashir was captured since 2014. Emine says that their neighbours Hatice from Aleppo and her son Ahmed, who moved in two years ago and whom they met from time to time, brought an unknown woman (Ahlam al-Bashir) to their house at 12 o'clock at night and said, "This is our guest, she is going to Europe tomorrow". Emine says that her husband (Zekeriya), who works in a supermarket, asked her "Who is this woman, why did you bring her to my house?" and at that moment, the police raided their house.
Tracing the incident like a skilful detective, Selvi says that Ahlam al-Bashir received the instruction from a man named 'Haji' and explains his brilliant conclusion: "It is understood that Haji is someone who is high enough in the terrorist organisation to give instructions for action."
Apparently, Abdülkadir Selvi forgets that there are many 'Hajis' within the FSA, for which he once acted as a lawyer in the face of criticism!
The footsteps of the Taksim attack led us to the jihadist groups in Syria.
The question arises as to whether National Intelligence Organization (MİT), which has close relations with the jihadist groups in Syria and brought these groups together after the recent clashes in Afrin, was aware of the attack. However, regardless of whether it was carried out with the knowledge of MIT or as a weakness in intelligence, it is understood that this attack was planned to target the Syrian Kurds.
It is known that the Erdoğan government wants an operation against the Syrian Kurds before the elections in order to stop its loss of power by provoking nationalism. The jihadists in Syria are also looking forward to such an operation because it creates new areas of domination and plunder for them.
The footsteps of the Taksim attack warn us about one more issue: Thanks to the co-operation of the Erdoğan government for years, the jihadist groups in Syria can create very comfortable connections and living spaces for themselves in İstanbul or elsewhere in Turkey. Therefore, this attack also shows how great the danger at our doorstep is due to the wrong policies persistently pursued by the government.
However, not only the government, but also the bourgeois opposition, which joins the chorus of "curse terrorism" when it comes to Kurds and closes its eyes to the facts, does not seem to have took a lesson!
Yusuf Karadaş
Bülent Falakaoğlu
Hakkı Özdal
