When the specter of Daesh suddenly emerged, the whole world was horrified by its brutality and savagery. Getting stuck between reality and phantasm, the world was shocked by their monstrosities. The most gruesome images served the global consumption of fear and terror through the most advanced technologies of the day. While Daesh was denominated as the "Islamic State," Muslims all over the world were being forced to be ashamed of their religious identity.
Before the appearance of Daesh on the world stage, only 2.5 percent of U.S. mainstream newspapers' headlines covered news concerning the Middle East. After the emergence of Daesh, coverage of Middle Eastern politics in American media escalated to 35 percent. Thus, the political attention of American public opinion was successfully oriented toward the Middle Eastern region.
Meanwhile, two terrorist organizations (i.e. the PKK and the Gülenist Terrorist Group (FETÖ)) fighting against the Turkish state developed a thesis that links Turkey with Daesh. The Western media readily and immediately embraced that thesis, as they did not question the validity of the asserted relationship.
In my previous columns, I repeatedly argued that Daesh was no organic organization, but an instrument founded by international intelligence organizations. It is, I argued, a network of murder and massacre that has been controlled, if not founded, by latent international powers. The same argument was strongly expressed by Donald Trump, who pointed in his presidential campaigns to the Obama administration as the secret mastermind behind Daesh.
It cannot be a coincidence that the former territories of Daesh were given, step by step, to the control of the PKK, which was in turn glorified as the "heroes fighting against religious fundamentalism." Due to the impotence of his administration, Obama had already left the U.S. to the capricious interests of sub-political groups. The political maneuvers taken through the intelligence organizations drastically weakened the political status of the U.S. in Syria.
While the Syrian civil war goes on, Daesh began to directly target not only France and Germany, but also Turkey. While Daesh has formally declared war against Turkey, the Western mainstream media continued to emphasize the alleged relationship between Daesh and Turkey.
After the failed coup d'état of July 15, many believed that Turkey had seriously lost her capacity for war. Yet, by completing a rapid phase of recovery, Turkey waged a direct war against Daesh, which was regularly attacking the province of Kilis on the Syrian border. Moreover, Turkey directly entered Syria to support oppositional Syrian forces not only against the regime, but also against Daesh. Turkey's principles were loud and clear:
- "We are fighting against Daesh"
"We respect the territorial integrity of Syria."
"Whoever threatens Turkey's security shall be punished, at home or abroad." (Therefore, Turkey sees the existence of both Daesh and the PKK in Syria as an existential threat.)
"We shall carry out the given process through mutual consultation with Russia."
Thus, Turkey's war against Daesh turned all secret political agendas upside down. It is more than interesting that Turkey's war against Daesh has never been emphasized or discussed in the mainstream Western media.
That silence over the ongoing war between Turkey and Daesh in the Western press raises serious doubts about the founding rationale of the given terrorist organization. Therefore, we need to emphasize over and over again that Turkey is directly fighting Daesh.
About the author
İhsan Aktaş is Chairman of the Board of GENAR Research Company. He is an academic at the Department of Communication at Istanbul Medipol University.
Keep up to date with what’s happening in Turkey,
it’s region and the world.
You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Please
click
to read our informative text prepared pursuant to the Law on the Protection of Personal Data No. 6698 and to get information about the
cookies
used on our website in accordance with the relevant legislation.
6698 sayılı Kişisel Verilerin Korunması Kanunu uyarınca hazırlanmış aydınlatma metnimizi okumak ve sitemizde ilgili mevzuata uygun olarak kullanılan
çerezlerle
ilgili bilgi almak için lütfen
tıklayınız.