Aylin Kocaman

By : Aylin Kocaman

The feeling that binds together people who are associated with radical terror organizations is hatred. Feelings of revenge motivate organization members and produce communities that have no compunctions about dying and killing. These are angry people who have lost their families in coalition bombings, have seen the destruction of their countries and witnessed the maltreatment of their brothers. These people direct their ideologies and the hatred in their hearts toward one of their main objectives; revenge, in other words, dragging the West inside their own wars.

To date they have to a large extent achieved their aims. The reactions on the part of European countries to the incidents that have taken place are giving these groups exactly what they want. They are imposing fear on the West and dragging it into their own violent schemes. Those who respond to violence with more violence have always nourished them in both ideological and psychological terms. That’s why, a small radical group made up of just a few people has now grown to the extent where it can change the borders of the world and declare itself to be a state in its own right. Let us recall Bush’s anger. It is that anger, which is to a large extent responsible for the emergence of today’s radical groups. Therefore, European countries that are now declaring “war on terror” are just what organizations such as Daesh want.

Without even realizing, European countries are easily falling prey to Daesh tactics. Violence is an arena in which organizations that act in the dark, setting traps, without fear and with feelings of revenge, have an advantage. It is very difficult for the world’s superpowers, even with their latest missiles, to totally defeat in that arena an organization that acts in the light of an ideal and a belief, that knows how to move in the shadows and that regards terror as the only solution. So what needs to be done?

Former Turkish Ambassador to London Ozdem Sanberk set out very well what needs to be done during an event to discuss the tragic Paris attacks:

Aylin Kocaman

“Terrorism acts in the dark and lies in ambush. Those who act in the daylight cannot set ambushes. Here, we need to concentrate on those matters that can penetrate that darkness. In other words, we need to move from a logic of war to a logic of peace… Peace is a plan prepared in time of war. During the height of the Second World War a meeting was held in San Francisco in 1943. People were dying and cities were being destroyed. But visionary statesmen were discussing peace.”

The G-20 summit took place in the shadow of a great rage. The fight against terror was the main issue for all countries. Yet it is thought-provoking that not even one peace proposal emerged from a meeting of the world’s most influential leaders. War is not the only way to fight terror. As Sanberk said, “If you move to a logic of peace, then peace will inevitably find its own road map.”

Some people may say, “How can you talk of peace in the face of such great violence?” It is so sad that we are living in an age when calls for peace and love are met by such anger. Of course, it may seem hard to speak of peace and seek a way to find it at such a dreadful time when people are being subjected to such violence. But those people who can do that, who can overcome their anger and use it to build peace, who can look for a means of doing that are those who will come up with the fundamental solution.

People who think about peace are generally those who are able to rationally analyze the causes and results of events. They do not act out of fear and rage. They seek to understand the causes that turn people to terror and to resolve the issues that motivate them. They will also provide a rational solution, as well as a diagnosis. By identifying the ideological errors that incite people to violence they can prepare accurate responses to them. There is always a system of ideas that turns a person into a killer. And that system of ideas is always wrong. Finding the truth of it and involving that truth as a solution means resolving that problem from the roots. There is, therefore, today a great need for rational people who do not fall prey to their emotions and make errors caused by rage, but who are capable of thinking clearly and laying the foundations for a climate of peace. These people must maintain their determination in the face of all condemnation, insistence and accusations on the part of supporters of violence. Because a solution to war is only possible with a peace plan.

Otherwise, the situation will only aggravate in the region and around the globe. The terror that threatens civilizations will began dominating everything. If feelings of fear are triggered and people lose their sense of security, then it will become much harder to treat a paranoid society. Societies ruled by fear lose all desire to build civilization and become suspicious, fragile, unhappy and rancorous, concerned only with saving their own lives. The emergence of such a picture would spell disaster for the whole world.

For that reason, people possessed of determination, reason and clarity of thinking must talk about peace before any more fear comes to rule, before more tragic scenarios are thought up and before millions of more people die.

Let us remember that acting out of feelings of revenge is exactly what the other side wants. The fear enfolding Europe today may prevent rational thought. We need to move to a logic of peace without opening the door to such a tragedy. Then peace will inevitably find its own road map.

The writer is a commentator on Turkish TV & a columnist.

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in the Column section are their own and do not reflect RiyadhVision’s point-of-view.

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