Western Resistance

« Russia: Western Media Ridicule Memory of Slaughtered Beslan Children | | Pakistan: Muslims Are Sex-Starved Surfers, With Bestial Interests »

May 17, 2006

Turkey: Islamist Shoots Five Judges In Court

In Ankara, the capital of Turkey, a gunmen shouting "Allahu Ackbar" (Allah is Great) stormed a senior administrative court, the Council of State, and shot five judges. The news is carried by the BBC, by Baku Today, Yahoo News, Mainichi News and Associated Press via the Santa Barbara News Press.

There is some conflict between reports, concerning the death of one the judges who was shot, but a news flash from Turkish Daily News states that judge Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin died at Hacettepe University hospital. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has condemned the attack as an assault against Turkey's secular establishment. However, he has said that today's incident would not undermine the nation's secular constitution, which was introduced by M. Kemal Ataturk.

The assailant was a lawyer, identified by Turkish TV as Aslan Alpaslan. He was arrested immediately after the shooting, still in possession of a handgun. The Second Chamber of the Council of State was in session on the eighth floor when Alpaslan stormed in and unloaded two clips from the Austrian-made Glock automatic pistol. Apparently, this gun can pass through metal detectors without triggering an alarm.

The governor of Ankara, Kemal Onal, said of the assailant's motives: "I don't know, I don't know at all."

Of those who were hit, one judge is dead, another is critically injured, and three are in a stable condition. One of the judges who was shot, Mustafa Birden, is known as a judge who has supported Turkey's secularism by upholding bans against women wearing the hijab, or Muslim headscarf, in universities and public institutions.

Mustafa Birden was shot in the stomach, while Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin was fatally wounded in the neck.

Birden made headlines earlier this year when he ruled that women teachers should not be allowed to wear the hijab on their way to work, at their schools. He has also received death threats, and photographs of him and other judges from the Second Chamber have been published in an Islamist newspaper. The newspaper Vakit carried above the photograph the headline: "Those are the ones who ban the headscarf even on the streets".

According to AKI, two months ago, Birden asked for police protection. And Sumru Cortoglu, the president of the Council of State questioned at a meeting recently "if we have been targeted because of our decisions how can we decide impartially?"

Emine, the wife of the Islamist Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, regularly wears a hijab. Erdogan's Islamist AKP, or Justice & Development Party, is committed to removing the ban on hijabs for civil servants and students in public universities. However, Erdogan condemned today's attack, and said the culprit would be severely punished.

Deniz Baykal, the chairman of the Republican People's Party, the main opposition party, which is fiercely pro-secular, blamed Erdogan's policies for the attack. He said: "I hope those who still can't see where Turkey is being dragged, who refuse to see it, will take this as a warning. Unfortunately, blood has spilled into politics in Turkey. Turkey is being dragged into a very dangerous situation. Everybody should come to their senses."

The BBC states that Tansel Colasan, the deputy head of the Council of State, said that the attacker was acting to protest against the court's decision on headscarves.

Erdogan has previously criticised the Council of State's decision to uphold the constitutional ban on Islamic headscarves.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 17, 2006 10:49 AM

Comments

Posted by: hutchrun at May 19, 2006 2:04 AM

Post a comment