In June 2014, ISIS captured Mosul, Iraq, and raided the Turkish consulate compound, taking forty-six personnel hostage, including the consul-general. Here, Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoğlu kisses Turkish consul- general Oztürk Yilmaz on his return to Turkish soil after the hostages were freed. Davutoğlu claimed the release was the work of the country’s intelligence agency although it is thought that cash secretly switched hands.
The Turkish government’s support for ISIS and other jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq has not been cost-free. In June 2014, ISIS captured Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, and raided the Turkish consulate compound, taking forty-six personnel hostage, including the consul-general. In doing so, the organization apparently sought to prevent the Ankara government—deemed too pragmatic and “Western” by its standards—from betraying the Islamist cause.
In reality, ISIS had seized not merely forty-six hostages but the entire nation, serving as a wakeup call for Ankara: If you deal with jihadists, you can one day become their victim. Turkey’s 910-kilometer-long border with Syria had become an open highway for jihadists from around the world flocking to join ISIS. Border crossings and medical treatment for injured ISIS fighters that had been officially tolerated were upgraded to create a de facto hub that augmented ISIS’s logistical base and firepower.
Ataturk heritage today 