The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan has raised complex questions over the future of Salafi-jihadi movements, including in Turkey and neighboring Syria where the threat from such groups has been largely contained. Whether the risks heighten down the road will depend largely on how the Taliban shape their relationship with jihadi groups in Afghanistan.

Turkish Islamists of various stripes hailed the Taliban’s takeover, though some apparently had to tamp down their jubilation.

A journalist who in the past was close to groups sympathetic to the Islamic State (IS) told Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity that Salafi groups in Turkey welcomed the Taliban's takeover, but some were too wary of the authorities to engage in vocal “victory” propaganda. “Especially the Konya Jamaat, which has close relations with the Taliban, remained quieter than expected. The Konya Jamaat has had a long-standing relationship with the Taliban since the late 1990s. They provided fighters and financial and political support to the Taliban until 2010,” the journalist said. “Other, small and weak pro-al-Qaeda groups, especially a Van-based group, were more vocal than the one in Konya, although they have not had direct links with the Taliban,” he added.

Some in the pro-government media also applauded the Taliban. Tamer Korkmaz, a columnist for the Islamist daily Yeni Safak, wrote Sept. 1, “The 20-year occupation of Afghanistan ended last evening with the withdrawal of the last American soldiers — pardon me, terrorists. The US-Western idol has crumbled. An extraordinary period has begun. Various Western idols across the globe will be crumbling one by one in the coming years.”