Kılıçdaroğlu: We should Condemn Terror in A Joint Effort

‘We should condemn terror. It is innocent people who have been injured in this incident,’ Republican People’s Party, or CHP, chief Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said.

Everyone living in Turkey should develop a “joint reflex” against terrorism, the leader of the main opposition said Friday during a visit to victims of the previous day’s bomb attack in Istanbul’s Etiler neighborhood.

“We should condemn terror. It is innocent people who have been injured in this incident,” Republican People’s Party, or CHP, chief Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said during his visit to Şişli Etfal Hospital.

“We should all be sensitive on the issue of terror and demonstrate a joint reaction to these types of incidents. I have no idea which party [some of the patients vote for], or which party they support; they are human beings before anything else. We have to develop a joint reflex against terror,” the CHP leader said.

A bomb loaded onto an electric bicycle exploded beneath an underpass during morning rush hour in Etiler, close to the Akmerkez shopping mall. Eight people were reported injured, including a police officer and 38-year-old Ayten Bal, who lost her leg.

“It was just a coincidence they were in Etiler at that time. The police officer has been on duty here for years and was walking home. Unfortunately he became a victim of terror. We should be standing against this,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.

When reporters reminded the party chief that Bal was a CHP member, Kılıçdaroğlu said he had been unaware of this fact.

“Beyond whether she is our member or not, she is a human being,” he said. “She is a person full of hope, who loves life, whoever she is.”

One of the victims lost an eye in the attack, Kılıçdaroğlu said, wishing her a successful operation.

“The injured police officer, who was a hospital police officer, has serious head and face injuries. He has burns and his treatment is continuing. Other patients do not have serious problems,” the CHP chief said. “I wish a speedy recovery to all of them. We have spoken to the families of the injured. We have, all together, condemned terror.”

Kılıçdaroğlu said he had been able to visit all of those injured in the Etiler attack except one, who was undergoing an operation and was in serious condition.
May 27, 2011

SOURCE: HURRIYET DAILY NEWS