Accusations of hypocrisy surface against the US as US Counterterrorism Bureau announces anti-terror cooperation with Turkey despite President Erdoğan’s recent engagement with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Bureau chief Elizabeth Richard visited Turkey this week, posting on X, “While countering ISIS is critical, we are collaborating with Turkey against a wide range of terrorist threats. Improving our counterterrorism cooperation advances our shared security interests.” Her comment garnered strong reactions online from analysts and Kurdish activists.
Jonathan Schanzer, a former US treasury terror analyst, reacted to Richard’s statement with, “What a sick joke,” while a UK-based Kurdish rights activist responded with: “You are collaborating with the head of the snake.”
Social media users pointed to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent meeting with the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh. Hamas is designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the EU.
How about this 👇 terrorist threat, @StateDeptCT?
You’re acknowledging that Turkey gets a pass for its open ties to U.S. designated terrorist organizations, got it. https://t.co/BWUNXlVQtI pic.twitter.com/60bcRK8gst
— Diliman Abdulkader (@D_abdulkader) April 22, 2024
“How about this terrorist threat, @StateDeptCT?”, the well-known Kurdish foreign policy analyst Diliman Abdulkader posted on X, along with a picture from the recent Haniyeh-Erdoğan meeting. “You’re acknowledging that Turkey gets a pass for its open ties to U.S. designated terrorist organizations, got it,” he added.
The chief coordinator for the counterterrorism bureau also posted on X: “The US is committed to working with Turkey to counter ISIS’s recruitment and messaging and curtail their ability to travel and finance their activities across the globe.”
Erdoğan’s government has been repeatedly criticised for sheltering ISIS members and allowing foreign fighters passage into ISIS-held parts of Syria via southern Turkey. The Turkish government supported jihadist groups against the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG) and later the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Kurdish forces allied with the US-led Global Coalition Against ISIS.
The Kurdish forces worked in partnership with the coalition to defeat ISIS in 2018, yet since then Turkey has cooperated with militias to carry out attacks against the SDF. Turkey has launched three major operations into Syrian territory since 2016 and assumed control of an area of northern Syria previously under the guardianship of the SDF, which continues to be the most important counter-ISIS force on the ground.
Turkey ramped up airstrikes on Kurdish-led North and East Syria late last year, targeting civilian infrastructure, prompting a humanitarian crisis, and causing casualties, including SDF commanders. The Turkish bombardments apply increased pressure on the anti-ISIS operatives, heightening the security risk and leaving ISIS affiliates housed in camps in the region exposed to extremist ideology. SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi has warned of an ISIS resurgence, calling for renewed international support in the fight against ISIS and intervention against Turkey’s attacks.
