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Friday November 28, 2003

The temptations of Turkey -- Israel's Islamic friend confronts a radical threat

istanbul (jta) | In the days after the second set of suicide bombings that hit Istanbul in the span of less than a week, a thick fog often enveloped the city as the chilly waters of the Bosphorus cooled unseasonably warm air.

The fog was an almost painfully fitting symbol for the confusion that has gripped Turkey following the attacks on Nov. 15 and Nov. 20.

With officials here saying that the four suicide bombers were Turkish radical Islamists, many Turks are struggling to understand how four of their own could perpetrate attacks that killed nearly 60 people and injured several hundred.

The government, meanwhile, is being forced to confront the fact that local Islamists with ties to international terror groups may have managed to create a base in Turkey and, in the process, put Turkey on the front line of the war on terrorism.

“I think Turkey has two choices,” said Faik Bulut, an expert on Islamic fundamentalist groups in Turkey. “To choose a policy closer to the U.S. and Israel, which will make Turkey an attraction for more terror attacks, or to chose to cooperate with local countries that want stability in the region who can help build a security belt around Turkey’s border.”

One of its strategies for dealing with the new terrorist threat is to strengthen cooperation with Israel.

The bombings have raised questions in Turkey about the country’s relations with Israel and with the West, and whether those relations have made Turkey more of a target.

Boaz Ganor, director of the International Policy Institute in Israel, said the groups behind the bombs hoped to encourage such reactions.

“Their objective is to create chaos, to enable radical Islam to take advantage of that scenario,” he said.

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