Criminals among us
The neighborhood’s rough youngsters, aunties looking out of windows, shopkeepers, village headmen…
My dear citizens…
We could gossip about the neighborhood, about the girl that got a boyfriend, or gibber about who bought what brand of car and how much money they paid for it. But now, leave them all aside. We have a more important topic to talk about…
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and its sympathizers are all over the country. Just like there were notices sent to the police on information about people who were suspected to be members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Fetullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), it’s time we warn security forces of potential ISIL sympathizers and give their names to authorities.
For example, locals in Şanlıurfa, Gaziantep and Hatay know pretty well who they are and have been complaining about it for some time.
Some things are there, right in front of our eyes.
I was wondering, has no one noticed the tea house in Adıyaman? Men who look religious but never go to the mosque. The teahouse that nobody goes in the mornings, but they gather there at nights, where secret conversations are held, and there is even an ISIL flag inside. We know what these mean…
Don’t be lazy, don’t say “it is none of my business.” Tell the police. Is it against democracy? Of course it is, a little bit. Is it whistleblowing? Yes it kind of is.
As an ordinary citizen, how could you possibly tell whether bearded-young men wearing long robes, who never go out and who live in houses that look like sleeping cells are not jihadist terrorists?
But we are desperate. I will faint if I hear the words “the balance between security and freedom.” The ideal freedom-security balance should be that freedom should be given to those who chose not to even watch TV for religious reasons, as well as to those who celebrate and drink on New Year’s Eve. But enforce security measures on those who attack people for choosing to live their lives the way they want.
Instead of differentiating people based on the parties they vote for, or the views they uphold, it is about time we differentiate between those who commit crimes and those who do not.
The best solution is unity
Something needs to be done for the trolls who are committing hate crimes. If you were to look at social media, you would think that everyone was at each other’s throat. Yet there is neither that kind of hatred nor that kind of a strong and acute polarization on the street.
We have seen the creatures that praised on social media the atrocities of the Beşiktaş and Reina attacks. They were all caught after the attack in Beşiktaş. But then who are those that praised the terror attack on Reina. Are there some among them who get paid for writing these messages? There are too many accounts that sympathize with ISIL, who throw threats against seculars and against different lifestyles. All right, ISIL is a tool, and there is some kind of an dark force behind it and so on. But who are these provocateurs. The prime minister said it was a crime in a rule of law to openly praise terror and incite hatred. But Mr. Prime Minister, what are we going to do with these trolls and journalists acting like trolls?
Getting rid of them would certainly contribute to establish unity in our country.
