Is the Woman Sharing Video on TikTok the Sister of Ahlam Al Bashir, Suspect of Taksim Explosion?
It was claimed that the woman in the video she shared on a Twitter account on 15 November 2022 was the brother of Ahlam Al Bashir, the attacker in the Taksim explosion, and that her sister was innocent in the video she shared.
What Is The Woman In The Video Actually Saying?
On Sunday, November 13, 2022, around 16:20, a bomb attack was carried out on Taksim Istiklal Street in Istanbul. On 14 November 2022, anti-terrorist teams carried out an operation regarding the explosion in Küçükçekmece, and as a result of this operation, the person who left the bomb was detained. In the statement made on the official Twitter account of the Istanbul Security General Directorate at 11.38 on the same day, it was stated that the perpetrator was a Syrian national named Ahlam Albhasır.
The woman speaking in the video allegedly said she was Ahlam Al Bashir’s brother and had nothing to do with the attack. At the bottom right of the video is the photo of the bomb attack suspect in Istanbul. When the Arabic and Somali posts shared on Twitter are examined, it is noteworthy that a Somali journalist also reacted to a post in Arabic. BBC World editor Fahima Al-Saq states that the woman in the video does not use the expressions in the post. Fahima Al-Saq states that the woman in the video warned Somalis living in Turkey not to wander around without an identity card.
The entire speech, translated from Somali to English, is as follows:
“Hello Somalis; This black woman is accused of the bombing that took place in Istanbul. How did the terrorist manage to enter Taksim despite the city’s security being so tight? There are so many videos of victims and their bodies that I would have posted it, but the platform doesn’t allow it. Somalis in Turkey, please be careful. The police are searching everywhere, even breaking into houses. Have your identity with you. They also fight terrorism in different parts of the country. Since they are very angry with the attack in Taksim, they can deport all foreigners without identity cards.”
When the statements made in Somalia are followed on Twitter, it is possible to come across a post by Somali activist and academic Hiba Shookari about the woman in the video. Shookari stated that he did not say that the suspect of the attack was his brother, as alleged, but that he gave general warnings to the Somalis in Turkey.
The claim is FALSE
It was claimed that the woman in the video shared by a Twitter account published on TikTok said that she was the brother of Ahlam Al Bashir, the attacker in the Taksim explosion, and that her brother was innocent. When the posts in Arabic and Somali on Twitter are examined, it is noteworthy that a Somali journalist also reacted to a post in Arabic. When we reached out to journalist Fahima Al-Saq, editor at BBC World, for the English translation of the Somali speech in the video on Twitter, the journalist provided the translation of the video that was the subject of the allegations. In the translation, it was stated that the woman in the video did not say that she was Ahlam al-Bashir’s brother, as alleged, but warned the Somalis in Turkey. It is understood that the person in the video speaks Somali, but there is no explanation that he is the brother of the suspect in the Istanbul attack and that the video was shared with people who were mistranslated.
