Baghdadi's eradication started a new chapter

Has the United States completed its mission in Syria by killing the notorious Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the even more notorious ISIL terrorist gang? How comforting it would be to say yes, but unfortunately, even if U.S. President Donald  Trump might wish to pull out the American troops, agents, spies, etc., disengagement from this region’s wealth might require efforts of many other tenants of the White House in the decades ahead.

As President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and many other world leaders commented, the death of Baghdadi is, of course, a turning point in the war against global terrorism. Yet, at hand there is a major success but neither a victory against global terrorism, nor an end to the use of terrorists by local and global powers to attain their political, strategic or just economic interests. The thin line between terrorism and freedom fighters, the tradition of the global imperialists to use local infidels as well as nourish terrorists to serve their interests underscore why this geography has been on fire for so long. Perhaps the greed of those big powers might help understand how a Saudi journalist could be murdered, dismembered at an Istanbul diplomatic mission and his body parts masterly vanished while from the prince who ordered the murder down to the executioners, except some pawns, the assassins get away with the crime. Business as usual because of the need for oil and gas

Was it because of the hydrocarbon riches that Syria has been in a fire for the past decade? Why do the Americans pull troops from the northern parts of the country but as Trump confessed, do they continue to stay and guard the oil wells of the country? The U.S. has started saying that it understands the security concerns of Turkey, but was it not the same U.S. that provided all those arms and money to the Syrian extension of the PKK gang, which is on the terrorism list of the U.S.?

All the world leaders who applauded Baghdadi’s eradication as a major turning point in the fight against terrorism might be perhaps wrong in their over-excited assessments. Unless common coerced and clear efforts developed against terrorism and hypocrisy is ended, this problem will continue to hurt the entire world.

Who was Baghdadi? Why was blowing himself and his three kids up in a tunnel under his Idlib hideout presented as great news? Why did Trump immediately disclose that Baghdadi’s identification was proven with a DNA test? These and similar questions regarding the weekend outstanding American operation to eradicate Baghdadi demonstrate, naturally, the satisfaction in the annihilation of such a beast while on the other hand implies a serious concern: Does ISIL still has the capacity to retaliate by undertaking some heinous actions not only in Syria but elsewhere in the world?

This country suffered so much from all kinds of terrorists that while the death of Baghdadi was welcome news, at the same time, it was a wake-up call to further increase security measures, intelligence efforts and take all sorts of preemptive measures. While doing so, of course, no effort should be spared to make sure that while increasing anti-terrorism vigilance the already impaired human rights and the freedom of thought situation in the country is not further imperiled.

It is no secret that in any society the worsening economic-financial situation produces social discomfort, anger and unhappy citizens who might explode with a trivial trigger. It is as well a fact that the lowest income groups in Turkey are the most religious segments of the society. Worse, the education and cultural level of those segments of the society make some of them prune to Islamist agitation by such gangs. It might appear rather impossible for people sipping their afternoon tea at a Cihangir coffeehouse in Istanbul or similar
places anywhere in major capitals of the world, but very much like Baghdadi who blew up himself and his three kids in a tunnel, we might face the threat of suicide killers and had better be attentive to such a serious threat.

Thus, Baghdadi’s eradication is not an end to anything or a major turning point but just the start of yet another horrendous chapter.