Sir — Turkey, which suffered a turbulent year, was convulsed yet again as the new year unfolded. The outrage at a nightclub in Istanbul was but a symptom of the times — a failed military coup, purges within the Army, setbacks in foreign policy, bouts of terrorist activity — which left the country reeling in search of its moorings.
The Islamic State may be on the retreat in terms of physical territory it holds, but as an idea or an ideology, it continues to proliferate in dark hearts and darker minds everywhere. The IS is the equivalent of a virus for which there is no vaccination yet.