The Resurgence of ISIL in Iraq And Syria

In December 2017, Iraq’s Prime Minister officially announced the liberation of the city of Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In March 2019, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declared the total defeat of ISIS after taking control of its last stronghold in the town of Baghuz in Eastern Syria. However, after both decisive victories, ISIS is back again.

ISIS operations in Iraq and Syria have enlarged significantly during 2020. It was a demonstration that ISIL is not totally over yet. The resurgence of ISIS in Iraq and Syria has internal and external dimensions and connotations. This phenomenon cannot be attributed only to some of ISIS movable remnants or to its sleeper cells. It is something systematic and linked to the agendas and volitions of some regional states.

Since the emergence of ISIL in 2014 in the city of Mosul in northern Iraq, there was an implicit relationship between Turkey and ISIL at the intelligence level. This was very stark in the comedian play presented by Turkish intelligence and ISIL together in June 2014 in the city of Mosul. In June 2014, ISIL alleged that it detained 49 Turkish people who were working with the Turkish consulate in Mosul. After 100 days, ISIL released all of them and when they came back home, their appearance was suggesting that they were on a tour, not kidnapped. Meanwhile, they were the only ones who survived after being captured by ISIS!

Since then, whenever the pressure on ISIS in Syria and Iraq intensified by the international coalition and local allies, Turkey was engaged in counteractivities aiming at relieving the pressure on ISIS. This is what happened in October 2019 when Turkey and its backed-Syrian militants invaded two large areas in north and north east Syria controlled by the Kurdish-led SDF. The assault occurred in the wake of the decisive victory by the American-led international coalition and its local partner SDF against the last ISIS stronghold in Syria.

What is striking here is that all the Turkish military operations that took place on the Syrian lands since 2014 were primarily targeting the Kurdish fighters who were and are still fighting ISIS. Every military victory that Turkey had against the Kurdish fighters was in favour of ISIS. In other words, every loss the Kurdish fighters received during their asymmetric battles with Turkey was considered a victory for ISIS and a revival of its activities.

Dozens of ISIS detainees fled from a camp in north-eastern Syria, which was under the control of SDF as a result of the Turkish attack in October 2019. Many of SDF were forced to postpone fighting against ISIS and started fighting the Turkish occupier instead. Thus, ISIS once again was able to hold out and survive after Turkey eased the pressure on it.

It is very difficult, if not impossible, to eliminate ISIS as long as there are states such as Turkey and Qatar supporting and financing terrorism. If U.S and EU are really interested in fighting terrorism in the Middle East and North Africa, then, Turkey and Qatar must inevitably be held accountable, punished, and deterred. Failure to do so, would put the credibility of fighting terrorism at the stake, and turn it into mere allegations with the aim of propaganda and misleading. In addition, that Turkey will continue to use terrorism against EU, as happened recently in France and Austria. The eradication of the roots of ISIS in the Middle East and North Africa must take place in Ankara and Doha, not in Iraq and Syria.