ISIL will not spare any country in the Middle East from getting some of its deadly mix. Saudi Arabia, which has been accused by some of its enemies of having supported the organization, has been hit by a chain of audacious suicide attacks in the space of a day. ISIL did not even avoid holy places where violence is prohibited by the teachings of Islam. Even in Kuwait, known as a peaceful and stable country, ISIL moved to attack its national unity through targeting Shia mosques. Kuwaiti security was able to abort a chain of terrorist attacks planned by three ISIL sleeper cells. One of the targets was the Shia Zain al-Abedin Mosque, to sow the seeds of sectarian cracks in a country that has a distinctive national identity.
Shortly before the start of Kuwait’s security crackdown on ISIL supporters and cells, the terrorist organization hit Baghdad with a chain of attacks targeting Shia heavily populated areas, the worst attack to hit Baghdad in recent years. And before that, it carried out coordinated suicide bombings at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport.
But the case of Turkey deserves a short pause and a little more reflection. For while the attacks on Iraq and the planned attacks on Kuwait targeted the Shia, in Turkey, where there is a very small Shia minority, the objective was straightforwardly political.
Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a U-turn in his position on ISIL a few months ago. Now he is cracking down on the routes the group used to smuggle everything to Syria, and from Syria to Europe. This was an indication that Erdoğan has already started changing directions.