Supreme Court head says Turkey ‘has to live with terror’

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

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Turkey must learn “to live with terror,” the head of Turkey’s Supreme Court has said, hours after similar remarks by a columnist of a pro-government newspaper created outrage on social media. 

“Unfortunately, our country has to live with this terror but the perpetrators, those who wish to attain their goals through terror, should know they will never reach their aim,” Supreme Court Head İsmail Rüştü Cirit told reporters the morning after a car bomb attack killed at least 37 in Ankara.

Cirit also said he strongly condemned the attack against Turkey’s “national unity, integrity and democracy.”

“This is a despicable attack. The fact that it targeted bus stops and civilians make it even more despicable,” he added. 

Cirit’s remarks came just hours after similar statements by Abdülkadir Selvi, a columnist at pro-government Yeni Şafak newspaper, created outrage on social media. 

“Yes, it is painful but we need to learn with terror for a while,” Selvi said during a live program on NTV. 

The March 13 attack is the third major blast to hit Ankara over the past six months. The first attack targeted a peace rally near the Ankara Railway Station on October 2015. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) attack claimed the lives of at least 103 people. 

A second attack targeted military shuttles on Feb. 17, this time killing 29 and wounding 81 others.