The first of the many terror attacks in year 2017 started with a ‘bang’ in a nightclub in Istanbul.
If you think that what we have written above is in poor taste then you need to seriously shake yourself out of your utopian slumber and emerge out of the opaque cocoon you live in. For the truth is that terror attacks across the world in the name of religion and politics won’t stop no matter our prayers for peace or the balanced words we use in our condemnations. There will be no paucity in the number of the dead – they be more than 2016, or less if humanity gets lucky.
There will be many ‘bangs’, like the sound of gunshots, and we will see similar pictures throughout 2017.
The injured being shifted to a hospital in Istanbul after the terror attack. AP
A man dressed in a Santa Claus costume opened fire at the visitors at Reina nightclub in Ortaköy district. Hundreds had gathered in and around the popular district in the vibrant city to ring in the New Year.
And like hundreds of innocents around the world, at least 39 of the revellers became victims of religious or political hate, whatever you may call jihadism as.
Thankfully, some of them escape by jumping into the Bosphorus River – which flows right next to the nightclub – to escape the bullets, but the terrorist still managed to injure 69 others.
The nightclub is located right next to the Bosphorus River. Reuters
Here is a glimpse of barbarian doing what every other Islamic terrorist in the world does:
CCTV at the club #Istanbul #Turkey pic.twitter.com/RAvonGxyAI
Advertisement— Jewish Breaking News (@JBN) December 31, 2016
The terrorist shot dead a police officer before starting his killing spree. He was very well prepared because authorities say he used smoke bombs and calmly reloaded his assault rifle during the attack.
Yet the Turkish special forces have not been able to find the gunman. They believe that he might have been having an accomplice but the search is mainly focussed on the shooter.
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BREAKING | Men with Santa Claus cover enter into a night club #Reina in #Istanbul. Many killed and injured reported. pic.twitter.com/Cd88ppXyzz
— Vocal Europe (@thevocaleurope) December 31, 2016
According to reports, the eyewitnesses said that the terrorist shouted in Arabic with some even saying he chanted “Allahu Akbar” while shooting. But many media houses skipped that part because obviously.
Some reports also state that the Islamic State has already taken responsibility of the attack on the nightclub.
It was clearly a pre-planned attack. What makes this attack shocking is the fact that the nightclub had increased security following warnings by American intelligence of the possibility of such an attack.
Turkish Special Forces stand guard in the area where the nightclub is located after the attack. Reuters
The attack comes days after the Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov was shot dead by a Turkish police officer. Before being gunned down by police, Altintas yelled: “Allahu Akbar” and “Don’t forget Aleppo! Don’t forget Syria!” in Turkish and Arabic.
Yes, Turkey is now under a threat from Islamist radicals but while we look in that direction, we should also study the changing face of Turkish society ever since Recep Tayyip Erdogan assumed power.
Perhaps this tweet will help us ponder why religious hate is here to stay:
A banner in #Istanbul few days ago: ‘We are Muslims. No to New Years Eve and Christmas celebrations.’ #Reina pic.twitter.com/HKamfr3Syu
— andreas korinov (@andreaskorinov) January 1, 2017
@andreaskorinov This kind of bullshit allowed to hang bcs of Erdogan’s islamist governmnt. We grew up in Turkey celebrating new years eve.
— Nurish (@nurayf) January 1, 2017
And that is the saddest part. We know that something is wrong somewhere with religions – not one, all of them – yet religion is what dictates our lives. We can see an increasing number of radical followers in at least one of the major religions of the world yet we choose to ignore that because we do not wish to “offend” the “sensibilities” of the moderate followers of the religion. We will continue with our hypocrisy through 2017, 2018, 2019 and so on, and thus innocents will keep on falling prey to the devilish plans of the radicals and the hands they use to carry out their nefarious deeds.
