Crowds flock to site in solidarity after Beşiktaş terror attack

ISTANBUL

DHA Photo

Crowds rushed to the site in solidarity after a deadly double bomb attack hit central Istanbul outside Beşiktaş’s Vodafone Arena Stadium late on Dec. 10. 

People shouted slogans and placed carnations at the scene, where 41 people, of whom at least 30 were police officers and seven were civilians, lost their lives. At least 155 people were wounded in the attack. 

Turkey Democracy Platform made the first call for a protest rally in the early hours of the day.

Earlier in the day, a rally was organized in order to protest the attack by the “We need to learn how to live and let live, regardless of where terror comes from,” lawyer Kezban Hatemi told daily Hürriyet.

“We shouldn’t let human lives be [destroyed],” she added.

Police took strict security measures during the gathering at the site, where prayers were read for those killed and where several people broke down in tears. 

NGO representatives were among the crowds, as well as politicians including Ahmet Misbah Demircan, the mayor of the nearby Beyoğlu district, who said “terrorist groups are just tools.”

“Whenever Turkey makes progress, terror groups are brought in to cut its path. Terrorist groups are just tools. It’s clear who is making use of them,” Misbah told journalists after arriving at the site of the attack, vowing that “the people won’t allow the disruption of Turkey’s unity.” 

“The terror that burns us today will burn those who support it tomorrow,” he added.