By Barçın Yinanç
Soon after the AKP rulers felt secure enough against the country’s secular establishment, they started promoting Gülenists abroad. Foreign capitals were advised to work with Gülenist networks.
Once the alliance between the Gülen movement and the AKP broke down in the first half of the 2010s, the Gülenists switched from good to bad guys.
It has proven an uphill battle for Turkish diplomats to convince their counterparts that what had been promoted as a benign movement had suddenly turned into a terrorist organisation with the name Fettullah Gülen terrorist organization, known by its Turkish acronym FETÖ.
Similarly, Turkish diplomats waged a similar uphill battle in the 1990s to prove, especially to Western capitals, that the PKK was not a group of freedom fighters struggling to secure the rights of Kurdish people but a terror organization. Even after the PKK was listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the EU, Ankara kept pushing for tougher measures to stop PKK activities.
Thanks to Turkey's efforts, terrorism is included in NATO’s strategic concept as the most direct asymmetric threat. Only recently, Turkey blocked Sweden’s NATO membership because of the PKK’s activities, lifting its veto in 2024 after the Nordic country pledged to clamp down on the outlawed organization.
“The PKK is also into organized crime, illegal human smuggling and drug trafficking,” according to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).
It is unclear what will happen now that the PKK announced on May 12 that it is laying down its arms and disbanding.
The Foreign Ministry has yet to brief its foreign interlocutors about the so-called “Terror-Free Turkey” process. But even the ministry’s top cadres might not have the answers to certain questions. What will the Turkish side say at meetings of bilateral counter-terrorism mechanisms like the one that was formed with Sweden? Will Turkey push for stronger language on terrorism during the NATO summit next month in the Netherlands?
NATO’s defense ministers will endorse new measures against hybrid threats on June 5. Yet, there is disagreement over whether terrorist activities should be classified as a hybrid threat. Will Turkey continue to lead the efforts to keep terrorism high on the agenda?
BACK TO SQUARE ONE ON THE YPG
For years, Turkey said the People's Protection Units (YPG) were the extension of the PKK.
“PYD/YPG’s affiliation with PKK is clear. They share the same leadership cadres, organizational structure, strategies and tactics, military structure, propaganda tools, financial resources and training camps,” reads the note at the MFA website. As the U.S. chose the YPG to fight against ISIS, American officials first opted to deny the linkage. Then they said the cooperation was tactical, transactional, and temporary. The establishment of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) by the U.S. was, in the eyes of Ankara, nothing but an effort by the Americans to sugarcoat the existence of the PKK by introducing Arab elements into the counter-ISIS coalition in northeast Syria.
Turkey remained deaf to U.S. suggestions under the Biden administration to dilute the PKK’s weight within the SDF through changes at the leadership level.
Looking at the current state of affairs, the U.S. seems close to reaching its objectives. Washington has gained important leverage over Syria’s current leader Ahmed al-Sharaa as the U.S. decided to lift sanctions on Syria. Washington can now push for a deal whereby a Kurdish entity in the country’s northeast can maintain some degree of autonomy, and Turkey’s objections could be neutralized thanks to cosmetic changes in the YPG’s leadership.
NEW U.S. ENVOY TO TURKEY TO PLAY KEY ROLE IN SYRIA
Tom Barrack, U.S. ambassador to Turkey, who is also a special envoy to Syria, appears to be preparing the ground by using rhetoric that is highly appealing to the Turkish public.
“A century ago, the West imposed maps, mandates, penciled borders, and foreign rule. Sykes-Picot divided Syria and the broader region for imperial gain-not peace. That mistake cost generations. We will not make it again,” Barrack wrote on X.
He met this week with the Jordanian and Saudi foreign ministers, according to his X account.
It seems he has failed so far to visit Anıtkabir, although he did have time to meet with the representatives of the Turkish business community in Istanbul. Ironically, after he offered his letter of credentials, he had to immediately fly to Antalya where the U.S. Secretary of State came to attend an informal meeting of NATO’s foreign ministers, whose priority was not the Middle East.
Someone should remind Barack that Turkey is not just a Middle Eastern country.
