Sway on a Tightrope: the Development of a Mutualistic Relationship Between Turkey and Daesh

Abstract

The Arab revolts have changed the regional balances. Syria is one of the particular examples of these changes. The shifting balances also presented ideal ground for the identities that have been suppressed throughout years. In addition to Al-Qaedah, new version of jihadism appeared at the stage which is known as Daesh. In this research, one intends to comprehend Turkey’s interaction with Daesh in the context of Syrian Civil War to shed light on the evolution of the global jihadism. Ankara has perceived Syria problem at first an opportunity to establish its domination over Syria later it turned into the web of entanglement relations which has changed Turkey’s a century long standing policy in the Middle East and initiated sets of reactive policies to handle the short term problems. The US and Russia agreed to suppress Daesh with the collaboration of various local groups. However, Daesh is far beyond being just a terrorist organization but a new version of the jihadist ideology which holds the remanences of prior jihadist groups.