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Istanbul nightclub attack, punitive measure: Analyst

Sunday, 01 January 2017 3:47 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 01 January 2017 3:47 PM ]

Turkish special force police officers and ambulances are seen at the site of an armed attack January 1, 2017 in Istanbul. (Photo by AFP)

At least 39 people have been killed and 69 others wounded in an armed attack on a nightclub in Turkey’s port city of Istanbul.

According to reports, the gunman, wearing a Santa Claus costume, killed a police officer and a civilian before he entered the Reina club and opened fire on the people, who were celebrating the New Year in the early hours of Sunday.

A commentator and analyst believes this attack was a “staged event” and a “punitive measure,” adding that it was meant to create chaos in Turkey.

“I suspect that this is, on the surface at least, mostly a Daesh attack, and it is mostly of a punitive measure, but it certainly serves to create chaos, to punish [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and to remind Erdogan that he needs NATO apparently. So there seems to be many conflicting motives at work here,” Steven Kelley told Press TV in an interview on Sunday.

He also argued that this attack was part of the campaign to try to disrupt the world as much as possible prior to the new administration taking office in the United States.

Kelley further opined that all the players involved in the creation of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group bear some responsibility for this attack - namely the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

He also noted that it makes sense that Daesh is trying to take revenge for no longer being supported by Turkey.

“We know that Turkey has been cuddling, condoning and nurturing these terrorists for some time and now they seem to have been changing their tactics and this is coming back to haunt them somewhat,” he said.

According to the analyst, the fact that such a terrorist attack can take place similar to the one at Istanbul's Atatürk International Airport back in June, indicates that President Erdogan still has a long way to go in his attempt to change the security situation in the country.

Turkey has seen attacks on a host of targets over the past year and a half. Most of the bombing attacks have been blamed on the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and other Kurdish groups.

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