Stung by attacks, Turkey toughens anti-IS stance
Turkish town picks up pieces after lockdown
ISTANBUL: Long criticized by its allies for taking too soft a line against jihadists, Turkey is taking firmer action against the Islamic State (IS) on the border with Syria after being shaken by attacks on its soil and the Paris assaults. Ankara is sealing its border to the jihadists who moved to and fro across the frontier during much of the fouryear civil war in Syria and stepping up raids against IS suspects. It says it is also moving with the United States in a joint air operation backed by rebel forces on the ground to wrest 98 km of the Syrian border in the hands of jihadists.
Until now, Turkey’s NATO allies had been alarmed Ankara turned too much of a blind eye to extremist Islamist forces in Syria in the hope they could help in its aim of ousting President Bashar al-Assad. Western sources lamented that jihadists would arrive in Istanbul by air from Europe, go by road to the southern cities of Sanliurfa or Gaziantep and then cross the border into Syria. “The Turkish authorities were perfectly aware of this traffic,” said a western diplomat. “They let it happen, making the bet that it would hasten the fall of their arch enemy Assad.”
Turkey has vehemently rejected accusations of failing to properly police the 911 km border, saying its sheer length makes it impossible to block off entirely. Ankara has also called for better intelligence sharing from its allies - a complaint also echoed by its western partners.
‘Indisputable Improvement’
Yet there has been a shift as it became clear that IS was a threat to Turkish territory as anywhere else. Aside from the attacks in Paris, on a Shiite suburb of Beirut and a Russian aircraft above Egypt, there have been three deadly attacks blamed on IS inside Turkey the last months. On June 5, four people were killed in an attack on a rally of the main pro-Kurdish party in Diyarbakir while on July 20, 33 people were killed in a suicide bombing on activists in Suruc on the Syrian border.
And in the worst attack in modern Turkey’s history, 103 people were killed on October 10 when two suicide bombers ripped through a crowd of peace activists in the capital Ankara. The military now announces almost daily that suspected militants have been detained at airports or the border. Meanwhile, there has also been an increase in raids against suspected jihadists - particularly ahead of Turkey’s hosting of the G20 earlier this month. Turkey is also putting up a concrete wall along the border with Syria in its southern Hatay province, a third of which has now been built. “That things have improved is indisputable,” said a western diplomat. “But it’s not enough.”
Turkish officials dispute the notion that Ankara has suddenly woken up to the IS threat, noting the group has been listed as a terror organisation by Turkey since its emergence. Ankara has also put 26,600 suspected militants from across the world on an entry ban list, officials say. “Turkish authorities have been doing more to clamp down on ISIS activities both inside Turkey as well as across the Turkish border since the start of 2015,” said Naz Masraff, Europe director of the New York-based political risk analysis firm Eurasia Group.
There is “a growing awareness that ISIS posed a real threat to Turkey’s own security,” she added, using a variant name for IS. But observers warn this will not be enough, given the likely existence of IS sleeper cells in Turkey and the risk of jihadists mixing into genuine refugees from Syria. “Hundreds of Syrians cross the border daily so it isn’t difficult for members of Daesh to infiltrate them,” said Taym Ramadan of the NGO Raqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, using the Arabic acronym for IS. “Daesh is able to move its members not only between Syria and the whole world, not just Turkey.” — AFP SILVAN, Turkey: Sahin Donmez surveys the damage to his house after almost two weeks of street battles between Kurdish militants and the Turkish security forces in the southeastern town of Silvan. “Look. The fruit of 40 years of work,” said Donmez, who fled the town with his family when the fighting began. “Gone up in smoke.” The local authorities imposed a curfew in three key districts of Silvan, a town of around 40,000 in Diyarbakir province, early this month.
It was the latest in a string of ongoing military lockdowns ordered by the authorities in mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey to pursue “anti-terror” operations against suspected militants allied to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). For 12 days, army tanks and elite snipers tracked fighters from
‘Real Threat to Turkey’ -
the PKK’s youth branch, the Patriotic Revolutionist Youth-Movement (YDG-H). The militants dug ditches and erected barricades in a bid to hit back at the police. The toll was heavy - with five Kurdish fighters, an army officer, two police and two civilians killed, according to official figures.
‘I Have Nothing’
The office of the local governor of Diyarbakir region finally lifted the curfew in the afternoon of November 14, signalling the end to the military operation. “A new house, a new life. We will try,” Donmez said. “From where did this start? From which sides did the shots come? We don’t know,” he said. The authorities have hailed the operation as a great success, saying the town has been entirely rid of PKK militants who had threatened the security of every citizen. But Nedret Yakan, 35, saw no consolation as she contemplated the cracked window of her hairdresser’s salon with its shattered mirrors and smashed furniture. “Twenty years of my life, wiped out in a few days.” Yakan sent her children to relatives in Istanbul. “If I am helped to repair my shop, I will be able to resume my work. But if I don’t, I will not be able to devote 20 more years of my life to it.” The authorities blame the damage on the PKK, saying that if its armed militants were not present in urban centres there would be no need for such operations. The restaurant, shop and apartment that Dogan Celik owned were devastated by explosives that he said were placed by PKK supporters. “Last week I was rich. Now, I have nothing.”—AFP