Turkey's mixed record against Islamic State
Structural problems continue to keep Turkey from putting in place a comprehensive strategy to combat Islamic State elements in the country, despite numerous operations against networks linked to the radical Islamist group.
Turkish security operations against networks linked to the Islamic State (IS) appear on the rise, but how efficient they are remains open to question amid a number of shortcomings, including the lack of adequate cooperation with foreign counterparts.
According to open-source research conducted by this author on the basis of more than 450 Turkish media reports, Turkish security forces carried out at least 105 operations targeting IS from Dec. 1, 2020, to June 1, detaining around 930 suspects, the overwhelming majority of whom were foreigners, mostly from Iraq and Syria.
A Turkish security expert who worked with the security forces until recently said the nationality of IS-affiliated foreigners apprehended in Turkey is often withheld because their home countries request so, citing two reasons — operational security and concerns to avoid negative publicity. “We have received files on nearly 5,000 IS suspects from various countries and caught about 2,300 of them in the past four years. That figure excludes suspects who have been captured after being identified by us,” he told Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity. “But is this enough? No. New files have kept coming about members, sympathizers, supporters and financial backers,” he added.
The data derived from the research show that the number of Syrians detained in anti-IS operations is not as high as one might expect. Iraqi nationals top the list, suggesting that Iraqis in Turkey are more predisposed to IS activities than Syrians.
