Imagine the outrage in Turkey if something had happened to even one of our soldiers posted at the Süleyman Şah mausoleum! Imagine the outrage if, God forbid, an attack or hostage-taking scenario had occurred and images of it were posted by ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.)
Recall what happened to the Jordanian pilot. They immolated the pilot to provoke the Jordanian state and its people. The whole country was in uproar. It was then that the Jordanian air force started attacking ISIL.
Recall the dissemination of images pertaining to the execution of 21 Egyptian Copts. Egypt was provoked with these images. That was what they were intended for. They wanted to provoke the Egyptian state and its people. They succeeded and Egypt began carrying out aerial raids on their positions in Libya.
WHO REALLY ATTACKED THE CONSULATE IN MOSUL?
Recall how our consulate in Mosul was raided and our people taken hostage. This attack meant Turkey had its hands tied to its back and couldn’t do anything about events in Iraq and Syria. When 49 of our citizens were rescued on Sept. 20, 2014, they had been in captivity for 102 days. Turkey was incapacitated in the region for this duration.
How would the Turkish public have reacted if during this time of captivity something had befallen even one of the 49 hostages or images of an execution had surfaced? Imagine the extent to which some domestic circles, which lack any values, would have exploited such an event. There were plenty of people and political quarters that in those days prayed for ISIL to execute at least one of the hostages in the run-up to the presidential elections.
Did you ever stop to think that ISIL had never targeted Turkey in any manner despite increasing its activities in Syria and Iraq? It took special care while conducting its operations in order to not upset Turkey. So what happened that the organization suddenly raided the Mosul Consulate and took our people hostage? Who planted this idea in its mind and instructed it to pick that target? Are these “centers” -- which we have taken to calling the “mastermind” -- that define the organization’s strategy from behind the scenes based in Iraq or Syria, or are they based in capitals such as London and Washington D.C.?
Even now the real reason for the hostage crisis in Mosul has not come to light. There are ISILs within ISIL that are the units of intelligence services who determine certain targets for the organization when the time and place are right. It is them who actually carry out the operations.
SOME PEOPLE WANT ISIL AND TURKEY TO WAGE WAR
In this sense, organizations serve as camouflage for states or intelligence agencies. Covert operations are carried out through these organizations or through small units established within these organizations. Some states settle scores with rival states via these organizations, use them to warn rival states, bloody their noses and threaten them. Attacks carried out by ISIL fall into the category of such states using it to settle scores.
The hostage crisis in Mosul was an attack meant to erode Turkey’s influence in the region, immobilize it and drag it into an uncontrollable zone in the regional operation being carried out via ISIL. This wasn’t an attack by ISIL but one where ISIL was used by countries engaged in a regional showdown of influence and power with Turkey.
Thankfully, we resolved this matter in an incident-free manner. If we had failed to do so, one or a few of those hostages might have become victims like those seen in those infamous execution videos. Turkey prevented this, but couldn’t prevent our domestic imbeciles, Turkey’s Baathists, and those who engage in blood politics from exploiting this success.
Did you ever stop to think why an organization set up to oppose Shia or Iranian backers called Rafizi suddenly trained its sights on the Kurds? In an instant they were within 40 kilometers of Arbil. Were it not for air strikes, they would have taken control of Arbil a long time ago. Whereas the organization technically had no reason to clash with the Kurds. The organization was not expected to target Turkey either. That’s what its position indicated.
Some people are trying to unleash the organization on Turkey. This time the target was the Süleyman Şah Mausoleum and outpost. They would attack that location, perhaps take our soldiers hostage and torch the place. Perhaps they would send the Turkish public into uproar by disseminating execution images, just like they did to Jordan and Egypt. And they would do it in the run-up to the elections.
DOMESTIC PARTNERS OF ATTACK PLAN
While all this was underway, bombs would go off in the country and terrorism would be brought into the country, just like it was during the Kobane incident, and they would invest in public outrage. That would provide the moment for those who engage in blood politics, and movements similar to Gezi would be fostered. There were many quarters who were willing bidders to take on the Turkey leg of the project.
A major plot was foiled with the Süleyman Şah operation. This foresight and attentiveness should be applauded. You saw how some in the country were agitated and went mad with rage because the plot was foiled. This shows that their anger at this operation is in direct proportion to how much they were reckoning on a blood-filled outcome there.
Those who voice shallow, careless and short-term reactions such as “Turkey lost territory, retreated, withdrew” are the same ones who would have raised hell if the tomb had been attacked. Perhaps they would have clapped and danced with joy. They would have used it to plan a leadership takeover and exhibited another ugly example of their blood politics.
What actually needs to be questioned is this mindset, this evil emotion and this blindness. The pinning of these quarters’ hopes on the blood-filled scenario scripted to take place at the Süleyman Şah mausoleum brings shame upon our country. These are the same quarters, whose positions have never favored Turkey in this clash of regional powers, and who are capable of entering any alliance for domestic political gain.
THEY PLANNED TO STAIN TURKEY’S REPUTATION
I have been following events in the region for 15 years. I am aware of how difficult it is to formulate a political stance and generate and implement security-related policies in a geographical region where there are so many short-term variables. No state can implement lasting policies in a region where one has to be on constant alert. You can have long-term calculations and perspectives but have to recalibrate your stance daily. This region is the main battlefield of the power struggle of the 21st century and the scene of world wars. No organization is merely an organization, no front is permanent and no alliance can be long-lived.
Turkey faced the threat of an open attack, which was camouflaged in the guise of ISIL. The intention was to bring Turkey to its knees via terrorism. We would have witnessed terrorist attacks in the border regions in the very near future if this operation had not taken place. An attack would have been launched on Süleyman Şah. This attack would pit Turkey and ISIL against each other, while some other dark business would be carried out in the backdrop of this confrontation.
And worst of all would be the spread of images of executions of Turkish nationals throughout the world, similar to what happened to Jordan and Egypt. Or the tomb of the forefather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire would have been blown up and Turkey’s reputation would have been razed to the ground.
A COUNTRY OF THE PAST AND FUTURE
This operation was a preventative operation conducted by a state with a prudent mindset and a people with foresight. Let those who want to raise an outcry do so. Turkey is not a country just founded a few years ago. This state is not a garrison state. This is a country of the past and the future. None of its actions are short term. This incident is the reflexive action of a state nourished by its long past and one that has its eyes on the near and distant future.
They drew up a plot and their plot was foiled. The plotters were foiled by Turkey’s gambit. All we need to do is applaud and support such sensibility.
