Why is Turkey becoming a target for the Jihadists?
“Feed the crow and it will peck out your eyes.”
It’s a classic story. A businessman who sold some products to some people cannot collect his money and requires the assistance of the mafia. The mafia helps him to “convince” people that paying their debts to this gentleman is actually a good idea.
At the beginning, this partnership seems quite fruitful to this gentleman. He may have a partnership with the mafia, but it is for legitimate purposes only. Did not he sell some products? Does he not have some debts to collect? Are not these debtors doing him injustice by not paying him his money? So what is wrong about working with the mafia for these legitimate purposes?
After a while, however, things start to go wrong. The businessman starts to find some of the mafia’s
“work methods” irritating. He also feels that there is a serious price for their cooperation, which he does not want to pay. His reputation is at stake. Because other businesspeople start to hear about his “business” with mafia and so on.
In the end our businessman decides to end his partnership with the mafia. This part, however, is not as easy as he thinks. When he declares his wish to dissolve the partnership, the mafia turns against him. First they threaten him, then take his children hostage, and the businessman gradually and painfully realizes that what he once thought such an easy gain was actually the darkest nightmare of his life.
When I heard that our diplomats had been taken hostage by jihadists in Iraq, this story crossed my mind. I am afraid; these kidnappings may only be the beginning of the nightmare Turkey has been dragged into.
If I am not mistaken, the Independent’s Robert Fisk was the first to draw a parallel between Pakistan and Turkey (in his column on Sept. 17, 2012) regarding how they helped jihadists in a neighboring country and later on turned into a target of that same jihadist group.
If we look at how Pakistan’s internal politics radicalized after their help to Jihadists in Pakistan, Fisk’s analogy might be quite wrong. However, if we look at how jihadists turned against Pakistan after being rejected by the country — Turkey, I am afraid, may follow the same tragic pattern.
Thinking that jihadists would ensure a quick fall for the Assad regime in Syria, Turkey, no matter how vehemently officials deny it, supported the jihadists, at first along with Western and some Arab countries and later in spite of their warnings. As we have the longest border with Syria, Turkey’s support was vital for the jihadists in getting in and out of the country. At the time I am writing this article, a photo, allegedly of Mazen Ebu Muhammed — the commander of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which has just kidnapped Turkish diplomats in Mosul, Iraq — was circulating on social media in Turkey. In this photo, ISIS commander Muhammed appears wounded, lying on a hospital bed in Hatay. He is being provided medical care in a Turkish hospital. Even if the photo is a fake, there are many other stories about how jihadists have received treatment in Turkey.
A Turkish proverb says, “Feed the crow and it will peck out your eyes.” In real life, this crow turns out to be a mobster or terrorist with whom you cooperate for this or that reason.
fyi
TO KEIMENO THΣ ΑΝΑΡΤΗΣΕΩΣ ANAΔΗΜΟΣΙΕΥΕΤΑΙ ΑΠΟ ΤΗΝ ΕΦΗΜΕΡΙΔΑ:
https://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/orhan-kemal-cengiz_350202_why-is-turkey-becoming-a-target-for-the-jihadists.html