Despite crackdown, families’ stories reveal ISIL’s reach in Turkey
Along with his wife, B.Y., a father whose son joined ISIL shows information about him as he shared his story in an interview with Sunday’s Zaman.
August 01, 2015, Saturday/ 17:00:00/ ABDULLAH AYASUN/ SERKAN SAĞLAM/ / GAZIANTEP
While Turkish authorities carried out an unexpected nationwide crackdown on networks and cells of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the stories of families whose loved ones are fighting among the ranks of ISIL in Syria reveal the reach of the group in Turkey, highlighting the arduous task Turkish officials are facing to combat the group's reach.
The radical group has deeply penetrated every layer of Turkish society, creating strong roots among conservative segments of society and challenging the expectation that the recent police raids and operations targeting suspected ISIL members would snuff out ISIL within a short time frame.
Instead, containing ISIL appears to be an elusive objective given how embedded the group has become in Turkey given the lack of a coherent government policy to tackle and trace the radical group's efforts, allowing the group to build an infrastructure through recruitment mechanisms over the past two years. The scope of this reality is particularly revealed by the stories of many families.
Families who are aware that their relatives have become members of this terrorist organization have told Sunday's Zaman that the government's turning of a blind eye allowed ISIL to slowly but steadily obtain a growing reach as their sons, brothers and other relatives slipped through the border to join the group.
Failing to make his voice heard by police, a father in the southern province of Hatay even abducted a leading ISIL figure in Turkey in exchange for his 13-year-old son. Affected by friends, A. A., a promising student in secondary school, joined the radical group in Syria in 2013. Shocked by his son's decision, I. A. sought help from the Turkish police to no avail as they had no right to operate in a foreign country.
He, however, did not give up and captured an ISIL militant as a bargaining tool for his son. In a riveting tale, he said his son was delivered to him on the border in return for the militant.
What most disturbed the father was to see the change in his son who only years before had come tenth in Hatay province on a national exam but now refused to continue his schooling because he saw it as a sin. "He was brainwashed by ISIL's indoctrination and propaganda. This child whose ambition was to one day be the chief of the General Staff now views the killing of a police officer or soldier as legitimate," lamented I. A.
"I know the frontier very well. Frankly speaking, the frontier vanished, totally disappeared with endless border-crossings. In Antakya, ISIL and other groups have offices. I locate the offices after an easy search and submit the information to the police but they refuse to intervene to dismantle these networks. When I ask why, they remain silent and say there is an order not to interfere with those offices," claimed the father, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
He is not alone in his desperation as dozens of other stories echo similar agony that has gripped the region's people. The recent campaign to fight ISIL defies a one-dimensional, security-oriented approach and instead requires a multi-pronged strategy that includes tackling the ideological and sociological overreach of the group. Clearly, there is no easy solution. Not in the immediate or short-term future, but rather a long-term, daunting task lies ahead.
However, one theme among the stories told by such families stands out as a common characteristic that provides a cogent explanation as to why ISIL is so deeply entrenched in southern and southeastern Turkey: that the authorities ignore the lure of the group among youth and the delayed action against ISIL cells despite the intelligence being provided by locals.
The family of Abdurrahman Alagöz, who is the prime suspect of carrying out the deadly Suruç suicide bomb attack that killed 32 people and injured over 100 others on July 20, had similar complaints. The father of the suspected suicide bomber said he several times informed police about the whereabouts and dealings of his son, but failed to attract the attention of the police.
B. Y.'s son twice went to Syria, eluding his father's persistent efforts to bring him back. After his first foray into Syria, the father, taking all the risks associated with his endeavor, went after his son and brought him back.
But after a while, his son, who in the words of his father wandered aimlessly after a year-long effort to find a job amidst growing unemployment, finally evaded his father's desperate efforts and returned to Syria, this time permanently.
"I applied to many institutions, companies and state offices elaborating on my son's situation. After a year, he was still unemployed. No one paid attention to our plight," his father said in anguish in remarks to Sunday's Zaman.
But what scares him most is the possibility that his son may one day return as a suicide bomber, causing him sleepless nights. "ISIL gives bombing training to militants. I see that in the news reports. That is what frightens me the most."
Noting that ISIL networks sprang up in the southern and southeastern provinces of Gaziantep, Adıyaman and Adana, B. Y. said he went to the police to share information about the ISIL offices in Gaziantep.
"I gave their addresses, names, associations. I told them everything. They even built their own mosques, issuing fatwahs [religious instructions]. These associations are still in place and open," he said, expressing disappointment over the Turkish state's inaction.
The Turkish police rounded up hundreds of suspected ISIL members in large-scale operations across the country after raiding dozens of offices last week.
Recently, the police have detained more than 600 suspects believed to have links with ISIL, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and outlawed leftist group the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C).
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