Demirtaş on İstanbul explosion: I am only asking

Click to read the article in Turkish

Selahattin Demirtaş, ex Co-Chair of People's Democratic Party (HDP) has written a short article on the explosion on Sunday on İstiklal Avenue in İstanbul killing six people.

"Bloody Massacre on İstiklal Avenue: I am only asking" is the title of Demirtaş's article and in it he says, "Maybe we will never learn the perpetrators of this terror attack, those behind them or their real motives. Just like thousands of other massacres similar to this one around the world, this terror attack will also be forgotten in the dark of "the deep politics" which we the mortals cannot work out."

Demirtaş says in his article, "My experience in law and in politics has taught me this: Focus on the facts which are hidden from you, not on those that are shown to you! We cannot take up this bloody massacre independent from the elections of historical significance to take place in 2023, the regional and global power struggles or the conflicts between multiple groups in power in Türkiye. We can analyze each one of these in many aspects.

"When I saw the event on the television, I recalled the near past. Without putting blame on anyone, without bringing anyone under suspicion, I just want to ask. Maybe the authorities will give satisfactory answers to these questions and we will feel comfortable."

52 kilograms of explosives

Date: March 21, 2022
Place: Yüksekova, Hakkari [in far Southeast Türkiye]

52 kilograms of explosives are caught in the search in the vehicle of a police officer in Yüksekova, Hakkari. 

NTV program dated March 21, 2022

Demirtaş describes how Minister Soylu spoke about the above event in a TV program that evening.

"In the evening on the same day, the Minister of Interior Affairs, Süleyman Soylu talks about this serious event in a disregardful manner, considering it unimportant. He says, in the TV program he participates, for the police officer caught with 52 kilograms of explosives, "A very troubled guy. He has also stolen cables." And he drops the subject.

"I think who had this police officer caught was another power group within the state. Maybe he had to be 'caught' when they engaged in."

Questions

Demirtaş then asks the following questions:

* From whom has this police officer taken the 52 kilograms of explosives? Why is it still left in the dark?

* Who were the ones to receive the 52 kilograms of explosives in İstanbul? Why is this still left in the dark?

* Why was it that the officer was not tracked and then caught in İstanbul together with the receivers.

* Why did Soylu disclose the operational information on the evening of the same day? Didn't they ever think about the possibility that the receivers may flee? Or did they want them to flee.

* Are there other explosives which were not caught and which were brought to İstanbul in a similar way, other than that 52 kilograms?

* Whose bomb is the one that exploded in İstiklal?

* Süleyman Soylu was in Idlib in northern Syria when the explosion took place. How was he able to state the source of the bomb as Kobani and Afrin (both in northern Syria) as soon as he came to İstanbul? Do they want to pave the way for a cross-border operation to Syria before the elections?

* Who is the person caught and declared as the bomber, said to have taken intelligence training, crying out with her appearance saying "I am here, catch me" in every detail and stupefied fully when caught and taken photos of after making wear a t-shirt on which is written "New York?"

* For whom has she carried out this massacre?

* Is it possible to do this without any support from within the state?

* Does President Erdoğan feel the need to look into the method, the timing and the details of this terror attack in order not to say "we were fooled" again in the future? Or does he find the announcements made sufficient?

Demirtaş says in his article that only an independent judiciary and impartial investigation could lay open the answers to these questions. (AS/PE)