“Terrorism is a plague
from which no continent or country is immune…” --Coninsx
The above statement exemplifies how widespread the menace of
terrorism is around the world. Terrorism refers to the illegal use of violence
to coerce a people or government to achieve a political end. The occurrence of
terrorism could be domestic or international. Terrorism is domestic when it
seeks to coerce or undermine the authority of a government within its
territorial jurisdiction.
However, when it is aimed at weakening a government outside its
jurisdiction or if its operations are transboundary, it is referred to as
international terrorism. Terrorism is, therefore, an epidemic that if not
reined, will transmogrify into a pandemic. To be sure, the menace of terrorism
has permeated several continents and has left the citizens of many countries
wallowing in poverty, displacement, deprivation and unwarranted deaths.
“…Today we have again come face to face with
a destructive and barbarous ideology, and we must not allow
these modern-day dark forces to attain their goals.
“We must stop our debates and forget our differences
to build a common anti-terrorist front that will act in line
with international law and under the UN aegis.
“Every civilised country must contribute
to the fight against terrorism, reaffirming their solidarity, not
in word but in deed.
“This means that the terrorists must not be given
refuge anywhere. There must be no double standards. No contacts with terrorist
organisations. No attempts to use them for self-seeking goals. No
criminal business with terrorists.
“We know who are stuffing pockets in Turkey and letting terrorists prosper from
the sale of oil they stole in Syria. The terrorists are
using these receipts to recruit mercenaries, buy weapons and plan
inhuman terrorist attacks against Russian citizens and against people
in France, Lebanon, Mali and other states. We
remember that the militants who operated in the North Caucasus
in the 1990s and 2000s found refuge and received moral
and material assistance in Turkey. We still find them there.
“Meanwhile, the Turkish people are kind, hardworking
and talented. We have many good and reliable friends in Turkey. Allow
me to emphasise that they should know that we do not equate them with
the certain part of the current ruling establishment that is directly
responsible for the deaths of our servicemen in Syria.
“We will never forget their collusion with terrorists. We
have always deemed betrayal the worst and most shameful thing
to do, and that will never change. I would like them
to remember this – those in Turkey who shot our pilots
in the back, those hypocrites who tried to justify their actions
and cover up for terrorists.
“I don’t even understand why they did it. Any issues
they might have had, any problems, any disagreements even those we knew nothing
about could have been settled in a different way. Plus, we were ready
to cooperate with Turkey
on all the most sensitive issues it had; we were willing to go
further, where its allies refused to go. Allah only knows, I suppose,
why they did it. And probably, Allah has decided to punish
the ruling clique in Turkey
by taking their mind and reason.
“But, if they expected a nervous or hysterical
reaction from us, if they wanted to see us become a danger
to ourselves as much as to the world, they won’t get
it. They won’t get any response meant for show or even
for immediate political gain. They won’t get it.
“Our actions will always be guided primarily
by responsibility – to ourselves, to our country,
to our people. We are not going to rattle the sabre. But,
if someone thinks they can commit a heinous war crime, kill our people
and get away with it, suffering nothing but a ban on tomato
imports, or a few restrictions in construction or other
industries, they’re delusional. We’ll remind them of what they did, more
than once. They’ll regret it. We know what to do.
“We have mobilised our Armed Forces, security services
and law enforcement agencies to repel the terrorist threat.
Everyone must be aware of their responsibility, including
the authorities, political parties, civil society organisations
and the media...”
–Russian
President VladimirPutin in his State of the
Union address on Thursday, December 3, 2015
