Can a message be written on a child's corpse?

Diyarbakır. Terrorism is a mode of conveying a message. Therefore, the way a terrorist act is organized inherently involves the encoding of a message. For this message to reach its destination, the target of the act must be able to decode, that is, to understand this message.

Not all acts of terror appeal to everyone at all times. Many have specific addressees. It is sufficient for them to understand the content of the message and be affected by it—to be seized by fear, horror, and despair.

Of course, understanding the message of terror does not mean understanding who committed the terror and why they truly did it, but rather displaying the attitude aimed at by the terror incident. For example, the explicit goal of those who assassinated Uğur Mumcu was to generate a strong leftist reaction, and they achieved their objective: the addressees of the message, the masses, took to the streets not according to the intentions of those who wrote the message through terror, but in accordance with their targets, thus enlisting in a secularist front.

The divergence between the target of terror and the intention of the terrorist nevertheless remains within boundaries where terror is not entirely a chaotic process.

For years, most terror events in the Southeast, regardless of their perpetrators, have occurred relatively within these boundaries. Even in unsolved cases, both intentions and targets could often be easily deciphered. The violence escalated by the PKK at a time when conditions for the people of the Southeast were rapidly improving could be explained either on the basis of external connections or intra-organizational political divisions.

However, the unfortunate bomb that exploded in Diyarbakır, causing the deaths of 10 people—mostly women and children—and injuring 15 others, fits nowhere. No matter how it was written as a terror message, it says nothing. Written by whomsoever and through whatever indirect means of messaging, the only thing it corresponds to is absurdity. This act of terror says nothing to anyone. That is why it is quite normal for no one to claim this absurdity; yet the interesting part is that no one can easily pin it on the other either. No one possesses or could possess the face to stand before those children asking "why were we killed?" or to blame someone else for it. A sense of guilt has engulfed everyone. Thank goodness for at least that.

Whomever we speak with in Diyarbakır expresses total bewilderment never seen in any previous event. On one hand, all the mechanisms and the way the incident occurred reveal the traces of the organization. But the unusual caution exhibited by the police department while announcing this is also very intriguing. It is as if the police department itself cannot attribute even this much to the terrorist organization.

On the other hand, such an act not being expected from the organization during these days when a tendency to lay down arms was forming constitutes another reason for the confusion among the people of Diyarbakır. Under the influence of this bewilderment, the silence of the silent protest march held on Saturday increasingly expresses a demand for prudence and common sense. The absurdity in the way the event unfolded prevents it from yielding a clear protest movement; nevertheless, it does not diminish the gravity of the incident, nor does it cool the heat of the burning fire.

There is no trace among the people of the tendency to easily accuse the state, which was easily observed in previous events. This is likely due in large part to the deep sense of trust established among the public by Governor Efkan Ala, who conducts and represents the state's approach. Diyarbakır has extended a massive credit of trust to the state in the person of Ala, whom it calls the "wise governor."

The people do not refrain from expressing how much they themselves actually need this credit. With a population of 700,000–800,000 and its industry, it is a very important economy, and every terror incident causes major turmoil in this economy. The people want to return to their normal life.

Diyarbakır is a city situated in a great basin of civilization with roots stretching back thousands of years. It is a crossroads where the paths of all known major historical actors, civilizations, and heroes have crossed. Even in our more recent history, it is one of Turkey's most important cultural centers.

During the few years when terror incidents paused, it made a surge to regain its footing and stand out once again with these characteristics. With the demolition of shantytowns at the base of the kilometers-long historical city walls and the surrounding landscaping, the walls emerged in all their glory.

Now these walls rise as if representing the defense of the city and of meaning against the absurdity-reaching dimensions of misfortune, terror, and violence that attempt to besiege Diyarbakır.