Turkish Embassy Attack

The attack on our embassy is troubling...and not only because it was an attack...

According to Reuters, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said the bomber was a member of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), a far-left group designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union. There was, however, no claim of responsibility.

..but because we have leftist/Marxist groups now using suicide bombers like AQ.  If that sounds similar to the old Arab-Marxist terror groups 20+ years ago like the ANO (which was basically Marxist in name only) then you're probably over 45.  Press reports are making it sound like these DHKP/C guys--who also have a long history--aren't Islamic; perhaps they are only Muslims who are Marxists.  Or maybe there's no great difference. 

Reports are also saying they do contract work for Syria and Iran so they could be cat's paws, but it sounds a little too convenient to peg this on a group who hasn't taken responsibility yet without any DNA testing or an autopsy.  AQIM and others just recently threatened more attacks.

MORE  2/2/13

From the Times:

“I’m rarely stumped on these things, but I am stumped,” said Bruce Hoffman, a specialist in terrorism at Georgetown University in Washington. He explained that Islamic terrorism would seem far more likely, and the swift manner in which the Turks said they had solved the case raised skepticism. “When a terrorist crime is solved within 24 hours it is suspicious,” he said.

Yes.  Still like the cat's paw explanation until something else shows up.

SHOWS UP?  2/2/13

CNN has a piece on the suspected leftist radical bomber, Sanli, which includes this:

Ozertem told CNN he is unaware of any links between DHKP-C and al Qaeda-type actors, but the possibility can't be entirely dismissed because al Qaeda sympathizers have become increasingly active in the region. The Turkish National Police assessment of the group says, "American, European and Israeli companies and enterprises are also among the targets of DHKP-C since they are considered by the terrorist organization as assets of global imperialism."

Bin Laden had many things to say about global imperialism that inconveniently mirrored some of the things believed by American leftists.  But it's hard to believe religious zealots could hold their noses enough to get in bed with leftist-Marxist terror groups.  These are the same folks whom we were told could never work with a guy like Saddam Hussein. 

As to the suicide aspect, the story says this guy was released from a Turkish prison in 2002 for a 'neurological disorder' and that another recent bomber was suffering from cancer. That might explain it.