Super-cyber Turkey in Syberia - revisited

?Super-cyber Turkey in Syberia? appeared in this column on Apr. 11, 2014 ? barely a year and a half ago. It mentioned how Turkey?s security apparatus proudly launched a Center for Response to National Cyber Threats. Earlier, the Turkish military headquarters had formed a Cyber Warfare Command. In 2013 alone, Turkey had hosted about a dozen conferences on cyber security and new technologies. In short, every defense bigwig was saying the same thing: how cyber and related technologies would be efficiently used to bolster homeland security. Very well.

Funny, though, Turkey?s ambitious cyber efforts came at a time when unknown sources had recorded and leaked a top secret Syria meeting at the Foreign Ministry. Even then, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan?s encrypted phone had been tapped and the conversation contents uploaded on social media.  

Unfortunately, super-cyber Turkey?s cyber security and intelligence units embarrassingly failed in taking pre-emptive strikes on the perpetrators of the bomb attacks in Adana, Mersin and Diyarbak?r ? attacks targeting Kurdish and/or pro-Kurdish gatherings. They, further embarrassingly, failed in grabbing the jihadist suicide bomber who killed 33 pro-Kurdish activists in Suruç before they could only grab his body parts on July 20. 

Less than three months later, Turkey mourns the death of nearly 100 people, and, according to news reports, one of the two men who must now be enjoying 72 virgins each and rivers of flowing wine happens to be the brother of the Suruç suicide bomber, and that, according to Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey?s security services keep a list of potential suicide bombers! Why, really, do Turkey?s security services keep that list? To play betting games on who on the list will be...