Advertisement

Reyhanli residents blame Turkish government for deadly bombs

There is no sign of anger against the government abating in southern Turkey following the bombing of Reyhanli, which killed nearly 50 people and wounded dozens more. Some residents say Turkish meddling in Syria has brought death and destruction upon them, and some are calling for the government to resign. While few complain about the more than 300,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey, many want Syrian rebel fighters to stop being based on Turkish soil. “We don’t know why all this is happening. Is this happening because of Syrians? Our brothers were killed and buried yesterday,” said one man. The government denies Syrian reports it was behind the blasts, and also denies they mean the war in Syria is spilling over to Turkey. “There are speculations, provocations about refugees, but these blasts are not related to the Syrian opposition,” said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erodogan. Residents in Reyhanli are starting to clean up the extensive damage caused by the two car bombs, but Turkey has yet to take any action in retaliation, despite talking tough about doing whatever was necessary to bring justice to the bombers who, according to Ankara, are a group with links to Syrian intelligence.