On Saturday night, Aug. 20, a young suicide bomber killed 54 people in Gaziantep, Turkey.
Twenty-two of the 54 were children.
The Gaziantep citizens were celebrating a Kurdish wedding when the bomb went off. The bomber is believed to have been between the ages of 12 and 14.
“To think that a possible 6th grader went into a crowd, not knowing what they were doing, and murdered innocent people is astonishing. It is not human nature to want to go out and kill people. Jealousy is something that can be felt automatically, however, the desire to kill people has to be taught,” said junior James Houston.
Officials said that the bomb was timed to go off right when the children and women were decorating themselves with henna.
Kurdish culture is very family oriented. Marriage is very important for the women of the culture, as it is believed to be the only way for a Kurdish woman to support herself.
“I feel lucky to live in the USA as, although we don’t have total 100 percent freedom, we definitely are freer than other countries around the world,” said junior Alexis Eliopoulous.
ISIS, or Daesh, the Arabic acronym for ISIS, has not yet claimed responsibility for this attack. However, officials believe it was the radical Islamic group that detonated the bomb.
“The initial findings of the governor and our police forces indicate the attack has been perpetrated by Daesh. As you know, Daesh is trying to position and organize itself in Gaziantep. Security operations have been conducted and are still being conducted against the terrorist organization,” said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey in an interview with CNN.
According to CNN reporter Mia Bloom, ISIS has recruited 1,500 children.
“It’s sad that ISIS has resorted to using kids in war, as they don’t understand what they’re fighting for or against. It’s not fair to put them in situations that they don’t understand yet,” said Eliopoulous.
This act of terrorism has affected many, including Emine Ayhan, who lost four of her five children. Ayhan’s husband was also seriously injured.
“If my remaining child was not alive, I would commit suicide,” said Ayhan in an interview with CNN.
