 Hello and welcome to global with me Matthew and really wally turkey has been hit by a wave of violent attacks Just weeks after it started. It's synchronized war on terror in Istanbul The US consulate was fired on by two attackers elsewhere in the city one policeman died following a suicide bomb attack on a police station In the southwest in the Kurdish province of Sienak four police officers were killed by a roadside bomb and one soldier died When a military helicopter was attacked. There are also twin attacks in dear back here Well, let me just show you some of the pictures in just a moment from those attacks in Istanbul because this is some of the footage of that dramatic moment at the US consulate Well, two people escaped after that shootout But one has now been arrested a far left group has claimed responsibility for that attack We're shortly after that a bomb went off at a police station injuring at least five police officers and several civilians Well, the country has been on a heightened state of alert since Ankara began a crackdown last month on Islamic State Kurdish and far left militants Turkey has also allowed America to use its air bases to launch strikes Against IS. Well, let's go straight to Washington speak to Blant al-Azir a Turkish analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Thank you so much for being on the program today. What do you make of this succession of attacks in Turkey today? It's not a surprise because ever since Turkey decided to change its policy and to allow US Plains to start using angelic air base in southern Turkey In fact six planes US Air Force planes arrived and will soon start operations and then parallel to that began operations both against the pkk bases in northern Iraq as well as the Islamic State just beyond its border and then Began the internal crackdown that you mentioned they was quite clear that things were likely to get worse and and the reason that we are now focusing on it is perhaps because of the Attack on the consulate in Istanbul more than the the other attacks which took place today as well as During the past three weeks. Yes, as you mentioned, we've seen other attacks over the last three weeks since the crackdown started Do you think to have a crackdown and fight on three fronts is basically that they have bitten off more than they can chew? well, there is there is the other shoe as it were to drop which is the Expected retaliation from the Islamic State Now once the US planes begin their operations south of the border Then it's almost certain that the Islamic State will retaliate within Turkey at the moment It's the the pkk as well as the leftist group that you mentioned That are carrying these out these attacks in Istanbul as well as in the predominantly Kurdish southeast But I'm afraid it's likely to get worse over the next few weeks It's difficult to say at this stage, but do you think the authorities are actually making headway with the crackdown? It's been going for a number of weeks, but are they making headway? Do you think? Well, obviously they did not pick up all the potential Perpetrators of these kind of attacks. Otherwise, they would not be able to do what they did today The majority of the people who were picked up were pkk sympathizers or affiliates of of pkk related organizations But the they were picked up mostly in the rest of the country rather than the the Kurdish southeast I'm afraid the the the pkk is going to retaliate Perhaps even more than it has done for the attacks that were carried out on its bases and that combined with the with the is Anticipated is the tax Makes it difficult for me to believe that the the authorities will get a grip on it As quickly as they would ideally want You know the political situation very well there in Turkey Do you think there is a political unity to continue in this direction? We know that there are coalition talks going on Do you think that across the board there is the desire to continue to travel down this route? Well, I'm afraid that Turkey is more divided and more polarized than than it's been for for some time Ever since the June 7th elections resulted in a hung parliament Turkey is being ruled by a caretaker government headed by mr. Doutou of the justice in development party the AKP At this very moment he was due to meet the leader of the opposition But the expectations of a coalition are relatively low So Turkey may be going into early elections and in the early elections I'm afraid that the focus will be on the role of the of the Kurdish predominantly Kurdish Dp and its relationship or sympathy or affiliation with the with the pkk So I'm afraid that the Turkish Kurdish divide in in Turkey is likely to get worse over the next few weeks Well all its implications just a final thought because you were mentioning the Americans and of course more planes and personnel Going into those Turkish bases for coming attacks on IS. How vulnerable do you think? Turkey is to IS to attacks on their soil. You have a massive Tourism industry that they base so much of their economy on how vulnerable is it potentially? Extremely vulnerable the the tourism figures are down quite a bit from from last year Now Turkey's been very careful not to take on The radicals in fact many of whom have traveled through Turkey over the past three years to go and fight in Syria So as Turkey now hosts US planes carrying out bomb bombing raids against them As I said before it's it's certain that they're going to retaliate and and the situations like to get worse before it gets better Well, thank you for that analysis there. We have to leave it with our guests there in Washington But let's go straight to Istanbul get the latest on the ground because Selene Girirt is there covering this story a multitude of attacks one after another over the last 24 hours Just give me a sense of the mood where you are This is grim here in Turkey The funeral ceremony of the policeman who got killed in Istanbul was held today here in Istanbul as The president Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the ceremony as well as well as the ex-president of the law good the mood was grim Because I mean six security personnel have been killed only today Since Turkey started the operations against the so-called Islamic State and the Kurdish PKK militants a couple of weeks ago More than 20 security officers have been killed. That is a huge number considering There was a ceasefire here in Turkey and the peace Process in place in Turkey previously so people are very concerned that the country is heading back to the 1990s its dark periods when there was Killings almost every day. There was extra judicial killings attacks bombings, etc So people are seriously concerned as we speak The prime minister is scheduled to Go into coalition talks with the main opposition leader and the main opposition leader Made a statement today calling out For all the politicians in Turkey to come together to get together and to find a solution to this violence That is increasing on and on and the government has not made a statement except the president Issued out a written statement offering his condolences for the dead policemen's families But the government has not made another statement The people are really worried in Turkey and what they want is an end to the violence that is on the increase Okay, so then give it there in Istanbul. Thanks very much for that. Thank you Well, do stay with us because we have plenty more still to come on Turkey one of the reasons of course the country is on high alert is because of the Turkish airstrikes on both Islamic State and Kurdish separatists well The BBC's GR goal has been to the base of one of the main Kurdish separatist groups the PKK for an exclusive Interview with the group's main leader will show you that interview later here on today's global Now let's turn to some of the day's other main news stories because Malaysia says it is Dispatching a team of experts to the Maldives to investigate reports that dead