2017 terrorist attacks

[IrishBlood]

Happy New year to you all and I hope you are significantly less hungover than I (I am extremely hungover)!

Unfortunately 2017 was rung in by a terrorist attack in Turkey.

39 people have been killed in an attack on a New years eve party in Istanbul Turkey. Apparently a lot of people even resorted to hurling themselves into the Bosporus to avoid being killed.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...htclub-turkey/

I have decided to name this thread '2017 terrorist attacks' because, and I know I might be overly pessimistic, it is very likely that there will be further attacks as the year progresses considering the political/social situation in the world at the moment. This thread could be used for posting any and all new attacks to keep it all in one place as opposed to creating a new thread for each one. Now the moderators get the final say in this, but I just thought it might be a good idea.

Addendum by moderation:

While we sincerely hope that this thread will not be needed for the remainder of the year we are realistic (or cynical?) enough to recognise its usefulness in keeping the always similar discussions in case of terrorist attacks in a single thread. More specific tangents can be split off at moderation's discretion or on request.

We realise that the question what qualifies as a terrorist act and what doesn't may be a crucial debate issue itself and as such every case brought up in the thread will be reviewed under consideration of related discussion here and possibly split off if it can be reasonably inferred not to be a case of terrorism.
While there is no internationally recognised definition of terrorism we suggest to work with the relatively broad notion of "any form of violence with political background by non-state actors against non-combattants". For discussion regarding moderation actions in this regard and possible amendments to the above notion of terrorism please refer to the commentary forums. There is also an on-going discussion in the Academy on this subject, which we will be following closely.

If the sad need arises the OP will be updated with relevant information on new incidents. If you have a quasi-OP prepared for a newly occured incident, please message moderation so it can be inserted.

On behalf of moderation. ~Iskar

Attacks covered:

Nightclub attack in Istanbul on 01/01/2017
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...htclub-turkey/
Discussion starting with OP

Car bomb in Izmir on 05/01/2017
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...-a7511106.html
Discussion starting with post #16

Airport Shooting at Fort Lauderdale on 07/01/2017
http://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0107/843...rida-shooting/
Discussion starting with post #43
Note: Unclear, may be non-terrorist. See also this separate thread.

Truck attack in Jerusalem on 08/01/2017
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/0...100137960.html
Discussion starting with post #45

Terrorist attack on a mosque in Quebec:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-can...-idUKKBN15E04T
Discussion starting with post #56.

Notice: Source links given above copied from introductory posts in the discussion. Feel free to request addition of other sources, as moderation will not commit to active selection of those.

[Flavius Julius Nepos Augustus]

That is one heavy attack: 4th place in deaths... RIP. You forgot to mention that the attacker is out there.It is better having a thread like this because all the attacks have the same political consequences: changes in policy, anti-'terror' laws. And have the same geopolitical source.

Turkey is really a hotspot these days for news...

Enjoy 2017 . . .

[Karnil Vark Khaitan]

I feel Sorry of Turkey, I really hope this is the last terror attack and a end to that retard war.

[Roma_Victrix]

It didn't take long for 2017 to have a terrorist incident, did it? Wikipedia editors have already started a list for January. That's depressing.

RIP to those who were senselessly murdered. I hope they catch the cretin who did this. More importantly, I hope they prevent this from happening again.

[sumskilz]

Sometimes it sucks to be right:

Nasser’s father Zaher told the Walla news website that he urged his daughter not to travel to Turkey, citing the uptick in terror attacks in the country.

“She insisted on going because her friends were,” he said. Before losing contact with Lian, Nasser said his daughter to “managed to send us a few photos from there and she told us how cold she was.”

Israel to bring back body of teen killed in Turkey terror attack

[Copperknickers II]

Sometimes it sucks to be right:




Israel to bring back body of teen killed in Turkey terror attack

Horrible.

I can say with some degree of certainty that as long as I stay where I am at the moment (in a village in the hills of Scotland) I will never be at risk of a terror attack, but I'd also happily spend time in London, Paris or Berlin too right now, chances of me actually being caught up in an attack there are negligible, even though we can't hope to get to 2018 without at least one of these cities being targeted again by then. But Istanbul seems now to have crossed the line from 'severe terror risk' to 'peripheral warzone'. I was in the very early stages of planning a visit there but I don't see that happening any time in the next 5 years in light of recent events.

[Humble Warrior]

The saddest part of every New Year is waiting for the first casualties of the madness to roll in. Everyone a Human Being that wanted to live...
Bought closer to home considering my sister visited the place a few years back.

[IrishBlood]

Here's a link to a video that shows some people giving eye witness accounts.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...07570359384477

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[alhoon]

That's too depressing.
Rest In Peace.

[Sharukinu]

More importantly, I hope they prevent this from happening again.

With full Western support for terrorists around the globe, it's difficult to prevent that from happening.

[bigdaddy1204]

I've seen the photos of the victims, it's horrific. They were lying there in heaps covered in blood. It made me sick seeing those images. I felt such sympathy for those poor people. I'd do anything to help them. Then later I started to feel angry towards the criminals who did this. How arrogant they are! Who do they think they are, to decide who gets to live and who dies? They have no right to take others' lives away. How dare they come to this place and kill innocents!

The sad thing is it's hard to see how these attacks can be stopped. ISIS must be rooted out and thoroughly destroyed. But even this will not be enough. We must also put an end to the network of mainly Saudi-funded religious schools that are spreading extremist ideology around the world. These centres are the recruiting grounds where the criminals can be found. More needs to be done in every country around the world to counter these elements spreading inhuman ideology.

[Copperknickers II]

How arrogant they are! Who do they think they are, to decide who gets to live and who dies? They have no right to take others' lives away. How dare they come to this place and kill innocents!

Quite. Although, that is exactly IS's justification for carrying out this attack: is Turkey not currently slaughtering the population of Al-Bab? 72 civilians were killed in one day of airstrikes not 2 weeks ago. Not that that justifies an eye for an eye of course.

[bigdaddy1204]

If they really care about the people of al-Bab, why don't they go after the military commanders and politicians who ordered the bombing? But they never do. They always go after innocent people who had nothing to do with it.

Those who target civilians should be punished. These ISIS dogs will be defeated. A fate worse than the tree of zaqqum awaits them.

[PointOfViewGun]

Is this it? 39 people die on New Year's Eve and this is all the attention it gets? I'm not sure if it's good that we haven't had any ignorant jabs here, or get sicken at the double standards we have. We don't care when innocent people die.

[IrishBlood]

Is this it? 39 people die on New Year's Eve and this is all the attention it gets? I'm not sure if it's good that we haven't had any ignorant jabs here, or get sicken at the double standards we have. We don't care when innocent people die.

I think the problem is that everyone is so used to terrorist attacks, particularly in middle eastern countries, that they have become somewhat numb to it. It's an unfortunate side affect of having so much media coverage on every attack. We basically see it so often that it stops having the impact that it should have. This I think might not necessarily be a bad thing.

The main reason that such attacks take place is because the attackers and/or the organization that planned the attack want media attention. They want to see and be afraid. If the world stops watching, such attacks lose their potency. I believe (and I could be terribly mistaken) that less media attention that such attacks receive, the less attacks there will be.

The same logic applies to American school shootings, where the shooters (often suffering from severe depression and bullying) kill their classmates as a desperate (and selfish) last cry for attention.

[bigdaddy1204]

Looks like another terrorist attack in Turkey. Izmir is a city in the western part of the country, on the Aegean coast. It used to be called Smyrna in the ancient times.

I was just thinking about the sad state of democracy in Turkey today. Turkey used to be held up as a model of democracy in a Muslim country. Now all that is in ruins (although that has a lot more to do with the policies of the AKP government and particularly Erdogan than with terrorism). I'm deeply worried what the future holds for Turkey. It's a beautiful country and it is sad to see it harmed in this terrible way.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...-a7511106.html

[Roma_Victrix]

Looked like an explosion there at the end of the video. Did anyone other than the terrorists get killed after they were shot by Turkish police?

Looks like another obvious work of ISIS as well. Izmir is a beautiful spot with wonderful historical sites, a real tourist town. It seems as though ISIS wants to drag that through the mud, especially the reputation of Istanbul's safety and security, to harm the tourist industry there too. Well...that and kill anyone who's not aligned with their imagined caliphate (i.e. 99% of the population on Earth).

[Tureuki]

It doesnt sound like ISIS. Governor said its most likely PKK. But it could be DHKP-C too since its the anniversary of Berkin Elvan's death(A kid killed during Gezi protests by a gas capsule to head)

Terrorists had assault rifles, explosives and even rpgs. If they entered that courthose it would be a huge massacre, that one brave traffic police stopped it at the cost of his own life. He had 3 children. When police went to his house and asked the children to open the door, they said "Our father is not home we cant open the door to strangers."

[mrmouth]

The slow burning insurgency and terrorism will challenge the region for many years. Assad will wish for the days when he knew where the frontlines were. You cannot kill as many of your own people and simply make peace. Not unless you plan to kill all the survivors who knew or were related to the dead. And Putin will be long gone.

Turkey could have done what they ultimately did, years ago. They watched terrorists become their neighbors. They shared a border with IS and then began to kill the people who took most of it back for them, along with US help.

With friends like Turkey...

[Sharukinu]

I think the problem is that everyone is so used to terrorist attacks, particularly in middle eastern countries, that they have become somewhat numb to it. It's an unfortunate side affect of having so much media coverage on every attack. We basically see it so often that it stops having the impact that it should have. This I think might not necessarily be a bad thing.

The main reason that such attacks take place is because the attackers and/or the organization that planned the attack want media attention. They want to see and be afraid. If the world stops watching, such attacks lose their potency. I believe (and I could be terribly mistaken) that less media attention that such attacks receive, the less attacks there will be.

The same logic applies to American school shootings, where the shooters (often suffering from severe depression and bullying) kill their classmates as a desperate (and selfish) last cry for attention.

It has always been like this, so don't pretend that this is an issue of desensitisation. Many things that happen in the West repetitively (like mass shootings or domestic violence against women) get much more attention and emotional investment than unfortunate incidents that happen in a certain part of the world involving lots of innocent lives (usually with Western involvement as drone strikes). It seems like when a Western life is taken it's a tragedy, but when a non-Western life is taken it's either "collateral damage and just move on" or deafening silence.

Just tell us the truth everybody knows about. Their lives are worthless to you folks, that's the reason behind the striking attention disparity. I have a bit of respect for those who admit the truth, but such craven excuses like the one above fill me with disgust.