It took Turkey a very long time to recognize the danger posed by the ISIL terrorists, also known as Daesh. The country has not only silently been watching the activities of the Islamic State, but has even supported the radical forces in Syria — on the condition that they would fight against the Bashar al-Assad and overthrow his government, Sueddeutsche Zeitung wrote.
The ambitions of the Turkish government played with the country a low-down trick. From Ankara’s point of view, the Syrian President hampered Turkey’s aspirations to establish itself in a new role as a leading regional power. The Turkish authorities were ready to take any measures — even if it comes to the support of terrorists — to throw Assad down.
According to the latest data, there are about one thousand Daesh supporters in the country. Referring to the documents of the Turkish secret services, local media revealed even higher numbers of about 4,300 followers.
Turkey’s actions speak for themselves. Ankara refused to close the border with Syria – a measure which could effectively deprive the terrorists of much of their earnings. According to some reports, wounded Daesh terrorists receive medical treatment on the Turkish territory. Moreover, Turkish authorities could not dispel the suspicion that they have been supplying weapons to the Islamists.
For a long time, Kurdish separatists — and not Islamic radicals – have been for Ankara the true terrorists.
However, the times are changing and Turkey should realize its mistake. After a series of terrorist attacks, including the suicide attack in the Turkish city of Suruci in summer 2015, Turkey can no longer pretend that the Daesh threat does not exist, Sueddeutsche Zeitung wrote.
