Arab news
Sinem Cengiz
What a year it has been. There are just a few more hours left until the end of 2016, which will be regarded as a difficult 12 months in many respects.
There is no doubt that 2016 will be remembered for deadly terror attacks that took place all over the world – from Turkey to France, from Iraq to Brussels, from Saudi Arabia to the US.
Terrorism, war, political upheaval and economic crises were not the only things that will occupy our minds regarding 2016, but also how the international community tragically failed humanity in Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere.
Each and every attack – regardless of where it took place and whom the perpetrators were – revealed the failure of the international community in understanding the gravity of the terrorism and extremism threat around the world. These terrorist attacks remained in the newspaper headlines for maybe a day, or a few days. And then we, again, fell into forgetfulness.
Tragedy in Turkey
Needless to say, 2016 will be recorded in Turkey’s history as one of the most tragic years in terms of the number of heinous terrorist attacks that targeted main cities like Istanbul and Ankara. Turkey experienced one of its most troubling years in decades not only due to atrocious attacks, but also due to the bloody military coup that took place in mid-July.
Although the international community rhetorically expressed solidarity with Turkey, in action it once more failed to unite against the global threat. Because countries around the world act with the understanding of “the threat outside my borders does not bother me” and “let sleeping dogs lie” and because they often lack empathy for victims of terrorist attacks in other countries, the world will fail to get rid of this terrorism illness.
Last year, the photos of a 3-year-old boy, Aylan Kurdi, who drowned in the Mediterranean while trying to flee the Syrian war with his family, flashed around the world. Needless to say, our hearts were broken and our words fall short. However, we couldn’t prevent other innocent children of this brutal war suffering a similar fate as Aylan.
I think nobody would forget Omran Daqneesh, a 5-year-old boy who became a symbol of Syria’s horrific war. He was the victim of the airstrikes in the ravaged Syrian town of Aleppo. Like Aylan, Omran was not merely a reflection of the brutality of the Syrian war, but also a demonstration of the global community’s shameful failure to help Syrian refugees fleeing the conflict.
2016 was a year full of shame and helplessness in the face of Syrian war.
It was a year we turned our back on the human suffering in Syria and elsewhere.
It was a year we failed to protect Omran, Aylan and thousands of children in Syria.
It was a year we failed miserably in engaging with each other.
It was a year we got stuck to the illness of forgetfulness.
It was a year our inaction seized our humanity.
The world is just watching
There should be no way any country could turn blind eye to what is happening in Syria. It is happening there, in real time, and we are watching.
Syria is not a new story that tells the inaction of international community in stopping the suffering of the people. In our history, we have Bosnia, Rwanda and many other cases where the global community could only say, “we don’t know what to.” We don’t have excuses, and we shouldn’t.
Step back a little and think: How many more images of Aylan and Omran are needed before the world takes action? How many more countries and futures should be destroyed? After how many more attacks and massacres will the international community, and these so-called great powers, realize the gravity of the matter?As Albert Einstein said, “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.”
So, 2016 won’t be a year that will be missed. But now we have a new year coming.
