Davutoğlu Denies Allegations of Turkey's Implicit Cooperation with the 'Islamic State'

Ahmet Davutoğlu, the Prime Minister of Turkey, rejected the accusation that his country has implicitly aided the militants of the 'Islamic State' (formerly ISIS) and that the suicide attack on Monday in Turkey was an unintended consequence of this assistance. Reuters reported on Tuesday, July 30, that Mr. Davutoğlu told reporters, "The Turkish government and the [ruling] Justice and Development Party have never had any contact, either directly or indirectly, with any terrorist group and have never shown any tolerance towards any terrorist groups." On Monday, a bomb explosion in the town of Suruç, near the Syrian border, resulted in the deaths of at least 32 students who intended to cross the border to assist in the reconstruction of the city of Kobani in northern Syria. Kobani has always been a target of attacks by ISIS, and groups from the Kurdish minority in Turkey accuse the government of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of failing to save the Kurdish region of Kobani from ISIS attacks. Meanwhile, thousands of foreign fighters have managed to cross the Turkish border in recent years to join ISIS forces in Syria, which has also been protested by Erdoğan's opponents, who accuse the Turkish government of neglecting this issue. The United States and other Western allies of Turkey have also urged the country to take further steps to enhance security along the Turkish-Syrian border. In recent weeks, Turkish government officials have conducted various operations to arrest individuals suspected of being members of ISIS. The Turkish government has also blocked several ISIS news websites that threatened the Turkish government with retaliatory attacks. Despite these actions, the Suruç explosion has sparked anger among several Kurdish political groups in Turkey and their supporters, including the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, who hold the Turkish government responsible for this explosion and claim it is a result of Erdoğan's previous assistance to ISIS in the fight against Syrian Kurds. The anger of these protesters led to demonstrations in Istanbul and Mersin on Monday, where police used tear gas in Istanbul and gunfire during protests in Mersin, leaving two injured. Reports from various parts of Turkey indicate that clashes between Kurdish militants and Turkish armed forces have increased on Monday and Tuesday. The identity of the Suruç suicide bomber has not yet been determined, but Ahmet Davutoğlu stated that a suspect has been identified and their communications are under investigation. In this context, is the cooperation of the 'Islamic State' with Turkey a reality or a conspiracy? The explosion in the border town of Turkey left at least 28 dead.