The terrorist attacks you didn't hear about just days before

[pixy0stix]

**WARNING - GRAPHIC PICTURES AT LINK**

mic.com/articles/138546/just-days-before-belgium-here-s-the-terrorist-attack-you-didn-t-hear-about#.eRw8Fbc3K

The city of Brussels was rocked by explosions Tuesday morning, leaving at least 34 people dead and 170 others injured. Nobody claimed responsibility for the attacks in the immediate aftermath, but they came just days after Paris massacre suspect Salah Abdeslam was apprehended in the Molenbeek district of Brussels. The most recent spasm of European violence has already sent ripples of grief in media and Facebook feeds around the world.


Just days before all this, however, there were actually not one, but two bombings you may not have heard about — both in Turkey.


On March 13, a car bomb in the capital city of Ankara exploded leaving at least 37 people dead and more than 100 injured, according to the Turkish health ministry. On Saturday, an ISIS-connected suicide bomber killed at least four in a busy tourist area in Istanbul.


But people are asking, where is the show of global solidarity for Ankara that there was for Paris, and there is right now for Brussels?



Or, in the words of Facebook user and Ankara resident James Taylor on the day his city was attacked: "You were Charlie, you were Paris. Will you be Ankara?"


In fact, the global reaction to Turkey's deadly violence has been so muted that some people online felt compelled to speak out, some last week and some after Tuesday's attacks in Brussels.


(Lots of tweets here)


"Can you imagine the victims? The teenagers catching the bus to go home, the grandparents walking into town, the people waiting for a taxi after a long day laughing and socializing in the sun," Taylor asked in his March 13 post. "It is very easy to look at terror attacks that happen in London, in New York, in Paris and feel pain and sadness for those victims, so why is it not the same for Ankara?"


Media (and social media) bias has been present in coverage of a number of terrorist attacks in Western countries, leaving in their shadows the stories of similar attacks in Muslim or developing countries. A day before the Paris attacks that left 130 dead, 43 died in a bombing in Beirut that went almost unrecognized. And in January 2015, the 17 left dead after an attack on the Paris office of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo obscured the roughly 2,000 killed by the Islamic militant group Boko Haram in the Nigerian town of Baga.



While coverage imbalances are often corrected after the fact, the latest example from Turkey shows it continues to be a potent issue.

[froggy76]

Did people really not hear about the attacks in Turkey? They were all over CNN, too. Same with Beirut.

Either way, we've heard about violence in Turkey and Lebanon our whole lives. It's more shocking and unnerving when it hits a place we assume is just as safe as the US. And why show support for Ankara when we don't express as much outrage at the attacks elsewhere in the Middle East? You could go on and on...

Anyway, this is why I don't even bother posting anything on FB about the attacks. First, what is there to say? Second, I can't do it every single time there's a terror attack.

[NewOrleans]

I did not hear about Ankara. I admit.

I think Belgium is on the news radar because recent events put a spotlight on it. I think a year ago many people could not have told you where Belgium and Brussels are.

[gigem]

I think the ankara attacks and most attacks are covered and can be read about even if you simply open up google news, day after day it seems, sadly. These brussels attacks, being at the airport and on the metro, feel like such a part of the everyday life that i am living that I feel somehow extra frightened. Maybe that isnt right or fair but it is my gut reaction.

[orriskitten]

It makes me so fucking sad that there is anywhere in this world where terrorist attacks are more "expected" than others. Or that there are places that it is more normal. I just feel so useless, which I guess is part of the point of these attacks.

I mourn for and with all who have been affected, no matter where they are.

[pixy0stix]

Mar 22, 2016 9:33:30 GMT -5 froggy76 said:

 And why show support for Ankara when we don't express as much outrage at the attacks elsewhere in the Middle East? You could go on and on...

I didn't agree with this part of the article. The argument is just dumb on their part.

More it's just... shocking? I guess when we have an immediate 3 page thread, people are changing their fb avatars, etc. and this is happening in other places. We didn't even have a thread about Turkey when it happened.

[NewOrleans]

Mar 22, 2016 9:46:53 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Mar 22, 2016 9:33:30 GMT -5 froggy76 said:

 And why show support for Ankara when we don't express as much outrage at the attacks elsewhere in the Middle East? You could go on and on...

I didn't agree with this part of the article. The argument is just dumb on their part.

More it's just... shocking? I guess when we have an immediate 3 page thread, people are changing their fb avatars, etc. and this is happening in other places. We didn't even have a thread about Turkey when it happened.

Our Istanbul one was not even a page.

[Gato]

Huh, I heard about Ankara and Istanbul. Both were on NPR. I don't watch TV news so I can't speak to their coverage, although it wouldn't surprise me in the least if it was bad/nonexistent.

I also had a friend who posted "I am Ankara." Personally, I was more touched by the attack in Paris because I know people there, and lived in France as an exchange student. But of course I care about all victims of terrorism.

[Linie]

I am Brussels, and of course, I am Ankara as well. We talked a lot about it here (in Belgium). There is a huge Turkish community here.

[kapoentje]

Brussels is H's hometown. He has had and is still currently having troubles getting a hold of family and friends there.

So I'll fully admit we're feeling this morning's horror more closely.

[underwaterrhymes]

I was going to come here and post about this.

I think it's less that people don't hear about it and more that it doesn't register on people's radar because the major networks do not show endless coverage and footage. It might be at the top of the news (or it might not) but it absolutely does not get the same level of attention.

I do think it's easier to connect with people who are affected in Belgium because their everyday life looks similar to ours.

But it breaks my heart that people are being brutalized by terrorist groups every single day and the threat of terrorist attacks are a part of daily life for so many but so many people only sit up and take notice when it affects Westerners.

[Linie]

Mar 22, 2016 9:53:18 GMT -5 kapoentje said:

Brussels is H's hometown. He has had and is still currently having troubles getting a hold of family and friends there.

So I'll fully admit we're feeling this morning's horror more closely.

Mobile phones are down. Whatsapp and facebook work better.

[Linie]

Mar 22, 2016 9:53:18 GMT -5 kapoentje said:

Brussels is H's hometown. He has had and is still currently having troubles getting a hold of family and friends there.

So I'll fully admit we're feeling this morning's horror more closely.

Where are you? Your name is clearly Flemish/Dutch. I'm from Ghent.

[kapoentje]

Mar 22, 2016 9:58:53 GMT -5 Linie said:

Mar 22, 2016 9:53:18 GMT -5 kapoentje said:

Brussels is H's hometown. He has had and is still currently having troubles getting a hold of family and friends there.

So I'll fully admit we're feeling this morning's horror more closely.

Mobile phones are down. Whatsapp and facebook work better.

Thank you. He's actually on whatsapp now and he's had some luck with fb & Twitter too. His parents aren't so social media savvy so it was harder to get a hold of them initially.

[MrsAxilla]

Mar 22, 2016 9:33:30 GMT -5 froggy76 said:

Did people really not hear about the attacks in Turkey? They were all over CNN, too. Same with Beirut.

Either way, we've heard about violence in Turkey and Lebanon our whole lives. It's more shocking and unnerving when it hits a place we assume is just as safe as the US. And why show support for Ankara when we don't express as much outrage at the attacks elsewhere in the Middle East? You could go on and on...

Anyway, this is why I don't even bother posting anything on FB about the attacks. First, what is there to say? Second, I can't do it every single time there's a terror attack.

I did not, and I have CNN on literally all the time. Admittedly, it does become background noise, but I'm sure I didn't tune out an entire terrorist attack. Maybe I was out that day...?

[kapoentje]

Mar 22, 2016 10:01:46 GMT -5 Linie said:

Mar 22, 2016 9:53:18 GMT -5 kapoentje said:

Brussels is H's hometown. He has had and is still currently having troubles getting a hold of family and friends there.

So I'll fully admit we're feeling this morning's horror more closely.

Where are you? Your name is clearly Flemish/Dutch. I'm from Ghent.

We're in the U.S., so far removed currently. H is Belgian, from Brussels originally but he lived in Ghent & went to UGent.

We go back when we can and I've especially loved spending time in Ghent & Bruges.

Are you still in Ghent? Or Brussels?

[Linie]

Mar 22, 2016 10:10:27 GMT -5 kapoentje said:

Mar 22, 2016 10:01:46 GMT -5 Linie said:

Where are you? Your name is clearly Flemish/Dutch. I'm from Ghent.

We're in the U.S., so far removed currently. H is Belgian, from Brussels originally but he lived in Ghent & went to UGent.

We go back when we can and I've especially loved spending time in Ghent & Bruges.

Are you still in Ghent? Or Brussels?

I left Ghent to study when I was 18 and started working in Brussels after law school. I lived outside the city for 10 years and returned to the city in the summer of 2014.

Ghent is still my preferred city!

[kapoentje]

Mar 22, 2016 10:12:50 GMT -5 Linie said:

Mar 22, 2016 10:10:27 GMT -5 kapoentje said:

We're in the U.S., so far removed currently. H is Belgian, from Brussels originally but he lived in Ghent & went to UGent.

We go back when we can and I've especially loved spending time in Ghent & Bruges.

Are you still in Ghent? Or Brussels?

I left Ghent to study when I was 18 and started working in Brussels after law school. I lived outside the city for 10 years and returned to the city in the summer of 2014.

Ghent is still my preferred city!

Re: bolded--H agrees with you :beer:

[summer]

Mar 22, 2016 10:13:45 GMT -5 @mx said:

I heard a lot about it. I think I live in an alternative universe from the people who write these breathless articles on "why don't you care about this thing that also happened ?!???11!"

My thoughts exactly

[twotrue]

I read an article about Ankara and I felt sadness for the victims and for the city. But when these attacks happen in places I've been, admittedly, my gut reaction is stronger. I've taken a flight from Zaventem. I've walked the streets of Brussels and Paris. One attack isn't worse than the other. Some are just easier to relate to and I think that's why they draw more attention.

[ttt]

It's awful, but it's just not as shocking when there is a terrorist attack every month (or more often) in a place. There have been three in Turkey already this year. Add to that the fact that Western European countries feel more like the US than Turkey, and it's not surprising that Brussels has gotten more attention. Same with Paris - more Americans have been to Paris and know people there than in Turkey. I think it's just human nature to be more emotional about things that feel closer to home.

That said, I did hear about the bombings in Turkey and felt like they got a fair amount of news coverage.

[iammalcolmx]

Mar 22, 2016 9:48:48 GMT -5 @bunnybean said:

I hadn't heard about it, I'll admit. I think even though Turkey is a big modern country, it's still just filed away as violence in the Middle East. It's really sad.

Only some of it is Modern and that fool they elected President is doing everything he can to take it back to Ottoman times. Yall know how I get on my high horse about Turkey.

[teflepi]

I also wonder if the Turkish one yesterday was bevause it was the 5th one in as many months. Almost as if "same ol'" sadly.

[summer]

I'm starting to get a lot of these "No one reported the Ivory Coast!" posts on FB. Is the problem that people are watching news programs/reading newspapers that literally don't cover this stuff, or is the problem that people aren't drawing cartoons and changing their FB profiles? How did the world react after San Bernardino? I don't remember.

Maybe there is something to the idea of proximity or whether it's a place people from an area go. Maybe the Ivory Coast and Turkish attacks, and Russian plane crash were covered more here because people in Europe are more apt to have been to these places? I don't know. I feel like the job of the news is to tell you what you should know as a global citizen, not tell you what they think you'll be interested in based on an algorithm of how many hits/likes they normally get on certain kinds of stories. My feeling is that American news outlets are more apt to be a "show" rather than inform. Newspapers/news websites seem to do ok from what I see, but maybe people are mostly getting news from television?

I do wish that there was more acknowledgement about what goes on everywhere in the world but admonishing people for being upset or showing support to Paris or Brussels rubs me the wrong way.

[anna7602]

Mar 23, 2016 21:24:53 GMT -5 summer said:

I'm starting to get a lot of these "No one reported the Ivory Coast!" posts on FB. Is the problem that people are watching news programs/reading newspapers that literally don't cover this stuff, or is the problem that people aren't drawing cartoons and changing their FB profiles? 

I do wish that there was more acknowledgement about what goes on everywhere in the world but admonishing people for being upset or showing support to Paris or Brussels rubs me the wrong way.

I think the answer is the bolded. I read your post and immediately thought "mainstream newspapers reported the Ivory Coast attacks," but wanted to hunt around the internet and confirm. Yep, found a Washington Post article, hardly a newspaper just for die-hard news junkies. 

And I agree with the other part of yours that I quoted. 

[erbear]

Mar 22, 2016 10:28:10 GMT -5 twotrue said:

I read an article about Ankara and I felt sadness for the victims and for the city. But when these attacks happen in places I've been, admittedly, my gut reaction is stronger. I've taken a flight from Zaventem. I've walked the streets of Brussels and Paris. One attack isn't worse than the other. Some are just easier to relate to and I think that's why they draw more attention.

This.

I admit, the Istanbul ones shook me up, since I have stood recently in both of the places where bombs exploded.