With a focus on regional unity, Türkiye aims to resolve the threat of Daesh in cooperation with several countries as new steps are underway.
In March during a news conference in Amman, Jordan following a meeting of the delegations of Türkiye, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon, the group announced they agreed to launch a joint operation center for cooperation and coordination to fight Daesh. The efforts aim to support existing international steps focused on eradicating the terrorist organization and eliminating the threat it poses to the security of Syria, the region and the world, in addition to dealing with Daesh prisons.
The five countries will unite their capabilities while negotiations on the details of the joint operation center are ongoing. The number of coordination centers might not be limited to one, sources said. On the other hand, Türkiye will host the next round of the five-country group.
As a country experienced in fighting terrorism, Ankara will lead efforts in this direction.
The eradication of Daesh and the Syrian government’s focus on dismantling the group will also lead to Western countries losing their pretext to support armed groups to handle the issue.
The U.S. primarily partnered with the YPG, the Syrian wing of the PKK, in northeastern Syria in its fight against Daesh. Under the pretext of fighting Daesh, the U.S. has provided military training and given truckloads of military support to the PKK/YPG, despite its NATO ally’s security concerns. Underlining that one cannot support one terrorist group to defeat another, Ankara conducted its own counterterrorism operations, through which it has managed to remove a significant number of terrorists from the region.
While the new coordination center will contribute to stability in the Middle East, it will constitute an example for future models.
Türkiye had also previously voiced that it is ready to support Syria in managing the Daesh detainment camps and prisons.
The issue of Daesh detainees in PKK/YPG-run camps returned to the fore after a coalition of anti-regime forces led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) ousted regime leader Bashar Assad on Dec. 8.
Foreign powers are at odds over who should run the jails.
Al-Hol, the largest internment camp in northeastern Syria, hosts more than 43,000 detainees from 47 countries, many of them family members of Daesh members.
Daesh remains the second biggest threat of terrorism for Türkiye, which faces security risks from multiple terrorist groups and was one of the first countries to declare it a terrorist group in 2013.
Türkiye has been hit by several significant attacks claimed by Daesh, including a 2017 nightclub shooting that killed dozens of people. Another attack in January 2024 saw two Daesh terrorists open fire at an Istanbul church, where one person was killed. Further casualties were prevented when the terrorists’ weapons jammed.