Fatal Connections - Al quaida’s ties in Europe.
Analysis of the aftermath of the attacks in Istanbul

9:10 Min. ORF - weltjournal, 10. March 2004

Security forces and the government of Turkey admitted quite immediately after the Bomb attacks in Istanbul November 2003, that the attackers had connections with the al quaida Network. It was a wise political statement, and the attention was quickly shifting away to other conflicts regions in the world. No attention was driven to the fact, that Turkey has a strong extremist basis in the Southeast of Turkey.

This movement was backed in the 90th by Turkish special forces as a power against the Kurdish PKK, and smashed by a military operation in 2000, killing the head of the radical wing of the Hisbollah. Imprisoning most of the leaders Turkey cut of the head of the movement, but couldn’t make disappear all its supporters.

September 11th was a push factor also in Turkey and radical cells intensified already existing ties to extremist groups in the Middle East and the Caucasus. As a result the bomb attacks happened. In March another one against a Mason lodge was rather unsuccessfully by only killing two people, but it had ties to the prior attackers.

The film travels to the roots of the islamist movement in the Southeast. Different groups reflect the terror of the 90th in connection to the current situation. Legal Islamist organizations express their view on the attacks. In the final part the foreign connections are investigative and lead over the Caucasus, Afghanistan and Turkey to Germany –the door to the EU.