UAE- Cowardly attack in Istanbul: paper

ABU DHABI, 8th June, 2016 (WAM) -- A UAE newspaper has said that the terrorist attack that targeted the Vezneciler district in Istanbul, in which scores of people were killed or injured, is "a cowardly act that contradicts all human and moral values".

"The third attack in Turkey's biggest city within six months targeted a bus transporting anti-riot police, close to many of the city's top tourist sites," said The Gulf Today in an editorial on Wednesday.

"What is distressing is that the 16th-century Sehzade Mosque, considered one of the greatest masterpieces of Ottoman architect, Mimar Sinan, was also damaged by the force of the explosion.

"Tuesday's bombing is the latest in a string of attacks that have rattled citizens and damaged tourism. Two blasts in Ankara earlier this year claimed dozens of lives. Last month, at least eight people, including soldiers, were wounded by a remotely-detonated car bomb targeting a military vehicle in Istanbul.

"On January 12th, a dozen German tourists were killed in a bombing in the heart of Istanbul's tourist district. To compound the problems, such incidents are happening at a time when Turkey itself is going through a challenging phase.

Economic trouble, Daesh threat and millions of refugees are among the major issues that Turkey is presently struggling to cope with. "The continuing violence has had a devastating effect on the tourism industry. Some 1.75 million foreigners came to Turkey in April, down more than 28 percent on April 2015," the tourism ministry stated in its latest release.

Incidentally, the fall is the steepest monthly decrease for 17 years and has raised fresh concerns about the health of the industry. What the attackers fail to understand is that such acts of terrorism will never win as entire humanity now stands together against the evil.

It will be foolish to imagine that such abhorrent actions will stop the people and nations from striving to build a peaceful and sustainable world.

The UAE has rightly called on the international community to stand united and uproot the bane of terrorism.

From the beginning, the UAE has held an unambiguous position of rejecting all forms of terrorism and violence that target all peoples without distinction of religion or ethnic and regardless of its sources and motives.

Terrorism is an international issue. The world community should intensify its collective efforts to uproot the dangerous menace and find drastic solutions to combat the phenomenon.

"It goes without saying that the perpetrators of such acts should be swiftly brought to justice," concluded the Sharjah-based daily.