By Hassan Makky
TUNIS (AA) – Having been hit by 15 terrorist attacks in one year alone, Turkey is now "paying a price for its success", Moncef Marzouki, Tunisia’s former interim president, asserted on Thursday.
The attacks, Marzouki said via Facebook, were intended to "punish" Turkey, "not only for hosting two million Syrian refugees… and for supporting the Arab Spring [popular uprisings in 2011]… but simply for its success".
"Terrorism, which we have also experienced in Tunisia, is more than just a crime by groups [who have deviated from Islam]; it is a war against people and nations by unconventional means," Marzouky, who is also head of Tunisia’s recently-established Al-Irada party, said.
He went on to offer his condolences to the victims of Tuesday’s deadly terrorist attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, saying: "May Allah bless the souls of Istanbul’s martyrs and all those who have died -- and are dying each day -- in this dirty war against those who struggle for national sovereignty and the liberation of their people."
Tuesday’s attack in Istanbul left 44 people dead -- including 19 foreign nationals -- and more than 230 injured, according to official statements.
*Hibe al-Sayyid contributed to this report from Ankara