According to a report by the Dutch Intelligence, Islamic state cells are using Turkey as a strategic base in which to recover, rebuild and launch an underground war in Europe.
This assessment is contained in a report released Monday by the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service, known as the AIVD. The document, available in Dutch on the AIVD website, is titled The Legacy of Syria: global jihadism remains a threat to Europe.
According to the report, the Turkish government does not see Sunni Islamic groups, al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or ISIS), as a pressing threat to national security. Instead, the Turkish security services are much more concerned about the Kurdish ethnic rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) present in Turkey and the Syrian People's Protection Units (YPG).
Therefore, even though Turkish authorities sometimes take action to fight al-Qaeda and ISIS, "Turkish interests do not always match European counter-terrorism priorities," the report said.
For this reason, Turkey was a major transit hub for tens of thousands of foreign fighters who flocked to Syria to fight for Sunni Islamic groups during the height of the Syrian civil war.
Also according to the report, Turkey today hosts tens of thousands of al-Qaeda and ISIS sympathizers - two organizations that maintain an active presence across the country. The Turkish government's "hands-off" approach is giving these groups " enough space to breathe and freedom of movement ”to operate relatively freely on Turkish soil. Furthermore, al-Qaeda and ISIS members are leveraging Turkey's relative peace and stability to shape and direct its pending underground warfare on the European continent.