Ankara, Turkey (October 19, 2015) – As participants were preparing for a NATO Centre of Excellence Defence Against Terrorism (COE-DAT) conference held from 13-15 October in Ankara, they could not have imagined the tragic terrorist attack that would darken the city on 10 October, killing approximately 100, and injuring almost 300. The COE-DAT conference was a somber reminder of the need for nations to unite in the fight against violent extremism.

Dr. Raphael Perl, Executive Director of the PfPC, addressed the conference, urging nations to unite in developing a long range, whole-of-society strategy to counter violent extremism (CVE). “The tragic attack on peaceful gatherers in a square in Ankara only serves to strengthen the resolve of nations to unite in the fight against violent extremism,” Dr. Perl commented.

Perl emphasized the network-centric nature of terrorism and suggested that we are facing a “transnational networked revolution,” reminding participants that historically it is not superior firepower that decides the outcomes of revolutions, but rather, superior strategy.

Discussions with Turkish officials during the conference included expanding cooperative efforts in the area of CVE and the publishing of articles by Turkish authors in the PfPC’s quarterly academic journal Connections