Looking back, some Turkish officials are now convinced that certain radicals in European countries were actually encouraged to go to Syria by the intelligence apparatus of these states, with the hope that they would possibly be able to get rid of these troublesome individuals.

When that proved not to be the case, and when potential radicals started to return home – more radicalized but worse trained and equipped – to stage terror attacks, Turkey was repeatedly accused of having too porous borders. The question of why Western capitals did not take the necessary measures to stop their own nationals heading to Syria in the first place rarely came up.