Turkey, as a country which has most suffered and is suffering from terrorism, is making a sincere and urgent call to whole world if the members of the international community wish to combat terrorism and not to suffer from this human tragedy. We should not forget the fact that no nation, no country or no faith is immune to terrorism and a terrorist has no religion, no ethnic origin, no nationality and no logic.
It was not until September 11th that at least the great majority of the civilized world started to realize the fact that international terrorism is a real threat to humanity and to western civilization. However, Turkey had already lived, paid unprecedented social and economic bills and learned bitter lessons until then and had already lost more than 30.000 lives in 1980's and 1990's. The sad thing was that Turkey was left alone and was even bitterly criticized in her efforts to combat terrorism all that time. What is more, the separatist terrorist organization PKK and its terrorists were welcomed and praised as freedom fighters in many European countries (Turkey is in the same military, political and economic alliance with many of these countries) and their leader Abdullah Ocalan was hosted in guarded private residences, was given false journalist ID cards and passports to facilitate easy travel and fool Interpol, and was even given refuge in an embassy which represent the soil of the said country in Africa.
Within the framework of all these bitter experiences, Turkey, as a country which has most suffered and is suffering from terrorism, is making a sincere and urgent call to whole world if the members of the international community wish to combat terrorism and not to suffer from this human tragedy. We should not forget the fact that no nation, no country or no faith is immune to terrorism and a terrorist has no religion, no ethnic origin, no nationality and no logic.
If all the countries forget about their short-term political interests at the cost of other countries and sit at the table and come to a decision on these simple criteria;
a. Commonly accepted definition of terrorism, what can be called terrorist acts and who is a terrorist. In this way, your terrorist cannot be accepted and treated as my freedom fighter.
b. Terms and conditions of regional and international cooperation, mutual handling of terrorist acts and terrorist organizations and mutual legal procedures to follow,
Then we can be optimistic about the future efforts of the nations who will be combating to eradicate terrorism. Otherwise, the letters of condolence full of sentimental words sent to presidents, prime ministers, ministers etc. have no meaning to nation in question and will not go beyond the diplomatic formalities of international relations.
Yours faithfully,
Selahattin Tümer
Address : Sarayevler Sitesi 688.Sokak No:99 Çayyolu Ankara TURKEY
Day time phone : +90-542-2166048
Email : tumers@dtm.gov.tr
