Enquanto a cidade se divertia em um show do Metálica [1] [en], a festa acabou mais cedo com a notícia de ataques a bomba no bairro de Güngören, em Istambul, que deixaram pelo menos 17 mortos e mais de 150 feridos [2]. As reações sobre a notícia na blogosfera turca foram surgindo devagar, mas, entre especulações sobre quem estaria por trás do ataque e protestos contra o terrorismo, uma coisa ficou bem clara: essa não foi a primeira vez [3] [en], e certamente não será a última.
A explosão
Metroblogging Istanbul [4] [en] escreve o seguinte texto, que aparenta refletir o sentimento comum entre os blogueiros turcos:
Last night two bombs went off in the area of Gungoren – killing 17 and injuring 154. Two RDX bombs went off at 15 minutes interval, the first was a smaller explosion aimed at getting people to flock towards the sound of the bomb to see if they could help in case anyone was injured and the second set off 15 minutes later, with a bigger blast, turning the area into a war zone. The PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party] are obviously the first group that come to mind in case of terror attacks but lets not forget El Kaide [Al Qaeda], who attacked the American embassy in Istanbul not long ago. This isn’t the first and it will unfortunately certainly not be the last terror attack against Istanbul, we’re all like sitting ducks provided security measures are not increased.
Erkan's Field Diary [5] [en] acrescenta o seguinte ponto de vista:
I first thought it was another bomb without much damage. But then came more news and helplessness of such brutality. When I was in high school, my uncle had a shop near the explosion site. I had worked there for a summer. I know the place. It is really upsetting. The usual suspect is PKK.
Há bastante vídeos na internet mostrando o bombardeamento e suas consequências, Carpetblogger [6] [en] (um blogueiro expatriado) escreve sobre a natureza da explosão, especificamente sobre como esse bombardeio está sendo visto pelo público na Turquia:
Most bombings in Turkey are credited — fairly or unfairly — to the PKK (Kurdish Workers’ Party). If you read about a bombing in Istanbul that is blamed on the PKK, you can be pretty sure of a couple of things:
* It occurred in a distant, obscure Turkish neighborhood. The last night happened in Gungorne and we still haven't figured out where it is. Based on the news coverage, it looked downscale and not religious — none of the victims were wearing headscarves and some were in tank tops. In fact, it looked like hundreds of other ordinary Istanbul neighborhoods stacked with poorly built concrete apartment buildings and small shops, filled with people out strolling on hot summer night.
* It probably didn't target foreigners. I don't know why PKK avoids higher profile targets like Taksim Square or Istiklal Caddesi where there are tons of Turks and foreigners, but they generally don't bomb these places.
* A bomba explodiu em um bairro distante e obscuro na Turquia. A última aconteceu na noite passada em Gungorne e a gente ainda nem sabe onde isso fica. Com base na cobertura da imprensa, parece ser uma área barata e não religiosa – nenhuma das vítimas usava véu e algumas estavam vestindo blusas regata. Na verdade, o local se parece com centenas de outros bairros normais de Istambul, com prédios de apartamentos de concreto mal construídos e pequenas lojas, cheios de pessoas passeando nas noites quentes de verão.
* Estrangeiros provavelmente não são alvo. Não sei porque, PKK evita alvos de maior visibilidade, como a Praça Taksim ou Istiklal Caddesi onde existem milhares de turcos e estrangeiros, mas geralmente eles não bombardeiam estes lugares.
Brincando de apontar os culpados
Como muitos dos incidentes terroristas na Turquia, o dedo acusatório aponta para o grupo terrorista curdistão, PKK [7]. No entanto, como o blogueiro curdistão Rasti destaca, o PKK (e grupos relacionados) negou a acusação [8]. Em uma postagem relacionada, Mideast Youth [9] [en] lamenta a tendência a culpar os curdos e o efeito que isso tem sobre os movimentos de direitos dos curdos:
While listening to news reporters wonder on who is responsible, and recounting the attacks throughout history by the PKK, the first thing I thought of was our Kurdish Rights campaign. People continue to claim that such a campaign is pro-terrorism, an absurd and false accusation that implies all Kurds are terrorists. It’s worth noting that numerous peaceful Kurds have also been abused as “traitors” to their cause and caught in such attacks by extremists. Such terrorist attacks do not illegitimize the fight for Kurdish human rights and Kurds should not be collectively punished for this as their vast majority are innocent and in fact do not approve of these violent tactics.
Dizendo não ao terrorismo
(Foto: Cortesia da editora regional da Europa Central e Leste Europeu do Global Voices Online, Veronica Khokhlova) [10]
Uma manifestação aconteceu em Güngören no dia 29 de julho em protesto contra o incidente terrorista. Além de postar fotos [11] e vídeos [12] do protesto, Neeka's Backlog [13] fez a seguinte observação:
It doesn't take a Turkish politics expert to decipher the energy of today's rally in Güngören. A diverse crowd, absolutely not aggressive, yet very determined, passionate. Lots of interaction along the way with those who were watching from balconies and sidewalks: a genuine neighborhood action, more like our Maidan in 2004 than anything I've ever seen in Moscow. In Russia, though, they bring flowers to the site of the tragedy, while here there were only a few carnations attached to flags.
Apesar da especulação e protestos, o sentimento turco parece não ter mudado após o último ataque a bomba, como Erkan's Field Diary [5] explica:
At the societal level, I don't believe this will really trigger panic or communal strife. Turks are just too used to this stuff by now. Life goes on….