Beyoğlu shopkeepers meet at the scene of Turkey’s latest suicide bombing on Istanbul’s İstiklal Avenue to commemorate those killed and express their refusal to give into fear

Shopkeepers in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district gathered on the evening of 19 March to condemn a suicide attack earlier in the day, while reaffirming a call to avoid “getting used” to the prospect of continual deadly violence in Turkey’s cities.

“As a group of Beyoğlu shopkeepers, we are here while our wounds are still fresh to leave our flowers,” they said in a statement. “The reason that we came here soon after the event is to show that we are not afraid, that as citizens we are here and that we will not bow our heads in the face of terrorism and any sort of attack.”

The group also noted Turkey’s need for peace and fraternity.

During the gathering at the site of the attack on İstiklal Avenue, shopkeepers carried signs saying “We are not afraid, we are here, we will not get used to [this violence].” There have been repeated calls for citizens of the country to avoid abandoning themselves to the fear induced by the second suicide attack in just six days in the country.

Five people, including a bomber suspected of being from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), were killed in the bombing, which occurred on Istanbul’s busiest shopping street and the heart of the city’s entertainment district, just before 11.00 on 19 March. Three of the dead – Simha Simon Demri, Yonathan Suher and Avraham Godman – were Israeli tourists on a reported culinary tour of Istanbul, while the other person killed was Iranian, Ali Rıza Khalman. Scores of people were also injured in the blast.

The blast was condemned by all parties, as well as the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the umbrella group that includes the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Istanbul Gov. Vasip Şahin, who had earlier criticized German officials for closing the country’s consulate and schools in the Taksim area our of fears of an imminent attack in the area, cryptically said the 19 March attack had nothing to do with the German warning, raising speculation that Istanbul officials were anticipating a different assault.

Diyarbakır and Beyoğlu are one

“We need to say we will not accept and not get used to [this state of affairs] with a loud voice,” one shopkeeper said in response to calls from government officials that Turkish citizens would now have to become accustomed to the prospect of terrorist attack.

“We’re doing business here, but before everything, we use this area as a living space, just like everywhere in Turkey,” one shopkeeper told Sendika.Org, adding that the government’s policies and oppression had ultimately resulted in people’s deaths. “For us, it is the same what happens in Diyarbakır, Cizre, Sur and here. We have to regard these things as a whole with our conscience, as we live on this soil. We are here to protect where we live.”

Beyoğlu Mayor Ahmet Misbah Demircan, from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), approached the group during the gathering before quickly departing.

“They won’t succeed in destroying the future and the present of this country with bombs,” said the Taksim Gezi Association’s Mustafa Cevdet Arslan. “The Gezi Park protests continued for six months in this area [in 2013], but a bunch of people with meat cleavers in hand who said they were Beyoğlu shopkeepers attacked protesters. Where are they now? Where are they when Taksim is burning? This shows just how right Gezi was. If they hadn’t been so afraid of Gezi, if they hadn’t tried to impose a dictatorship, these explosions wouldn’t have happened. The people will again hit the streets, but when they do, you [the government] won’t have anything to say to them.”

Many Istanbul residents and tourists avoided the area on Saturday night, when İstiklal Avenue is often at its busiest.

Just last week, 29 people were killed by a car bomb attack on Ankara’s Kızılay Square on 13 March, with the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) claiming responsibility, saying it was in response to the Turkish government’s ongoing operations in Southeast Anatolia that have killed hundreds.

Sendika.Org