What changed after 2013?

The U.S. and European states have been working towards building a terrorist corridor in the north of Syria. It is also a known fact that they want to establish a terrorist state in this corridor through terrorist organizations. The corridor was planned to start from Northern Iraq, pass through the north Syrian border, and reach the Mediterranean. This was a new map design, and they did everything in their power to realize this. The Arab Spring could have caused major instability and collapse in the Arab countries surrounding the Mediterranean, as well as in Türkiye. Considering the conditions of the time, it is clear they caused such a disintegration. The terrorist corridor planned to reach the Mediterranean was a part of this geographical collapse as well. 

 They were successful in Egypt but failed to achieve their objective in Türkiye. Egypt and Türkiye simultaneously faced a major intervention in 2013, but the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) refrained from appearing on the front lines of the insurgency. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK) political extensions were physically involved in the events, but they failed to be effective in spreading the insurgency to the grassroots. It is important to focus on the outcomes of their failure in Türkiye as this will allow an analysis of the currently ongoing process. FETO had no choice by the end of 2013 but to openly reveal its opposition to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This is another critical factor in terms of understanding the present. It wasn’t hard to guess that when Türkiye survived the night of July 15, 2016, the other events would affect the region’s fate. Thus, exactly a month and a half later the Turkish army made the first intervention through the Euphrates Shield Operation, which would impact the entire region. This operation revealed the invisible ties between Daesh and the PKK, but there were other surprising developments as well. When the Euphrates Shield Operation was launched, it was said that the most important elements of the Turkish army snuck in on July 16 through Jarablus, and made preparations in Syria. FETO elements were involved in the events that launched simultaneously in Egypt and Türkiye, but they did not want to be seen. The fact that the FETO schools were sent a thank you plaque when the coup in Egypt succeeded was extremely important. However, they failed to achieve their goal in Türkiye and had to be punished. They had no political struggle within, a new region design was being realized through terrorist organizations. Hence, revealing the invisible ties between terrorist organizations was extremely critical. 

 The most striking response to FETO members’ invasion attempt was the Euphrates Shield Operation, and the blow struck on Daesh during this operation gave rise to permanent results. The most important outcome was the destruction of the terrorist corridor. They were unable to reach the Mediterranean, leaving them with failed map drafts. The invisible ties between terrorist organizations were exposed. The U.S. and European states’ imperialist operations, and the political legitimacy of dependent structures carrying out the proxy war were shattered. Dependent structures relations with the U.S. and European states almost became official. Salafi groups’ support for Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Egypt should be analyzed within the same frame. It is still too early to analyze the repercussions of this process on the intelligentsia, yet we need to see the enormous change we experienced. 

 Türkiye has long been displaying a much more determined position with respect to ending terrorist operations in the north of both Iraq and Syria. President Erdogan is turning focus to Tal Rifaat, Manbij, and Ayn al-Arab, signaling a new operation. This determined stance underscores another reality. Those following the course of events can see that those responding to Türkiye, a country busy fighting terrorist organizations, are imperialist countries such as the U.S., France, Germany, and the U.K. The terrorist organizations in question no longer feel the need to even hide their relations with imperialist states. This shows the magnitude of the change that took place after 2013. It can be said that the organizations mentioned after this will not seek political legitimacy in any way. It is also quite clear that they will not refrain from carrying out fatal attacks. 

 We may not be able to provide a clear answer to how much Türkiye can change the whole region, but there is no doubt that it struck a major blow on the most effective terrorist organizations since July 15, 2016. These organizations managed to survive through outside sources and were thus able to pressure many countries. There was a big vicious circle, which Türkiye broke through, and paved the way for many natural developments.