Too Close to the President: The US Can No Longer Turn a Blind Eye to the Turkish Model | Amit Yagur

Turkey has become a global haven for Hamas commanders, Russian intelligence operatives, Iranian agents, and NATO diplomats. The assassination attempt on Trump exposed the collapse of a dangerous geopolitical model. The author calls on the US to demand a comprehensive purge of terrorist infrastructures operating in Turkey, including those of Iran and Hamas.

Turkey has positioned itself as a global haven for Hamas commanders, Russian intelligence operatives, Iranian agents, and even NATO diplomats. The organization behind the assassination attempt on Trump should not have surprised anyone, but the US should stop turning a blind eye. The author, Lt. Col. (res.) Amit Yagur, argues that what happened this week in Turkey is not a localized hotel failure but the collapse of a dangerous geopolitical model cultivated in Turkey for many years. He describes how Turkish intelligence allowed Iranian infrastructures to operate under a glass ceiling: smuggling, surveillance of Iranian opposition, and sometimes kidnappings and assassinations on Turkish soil, in exchange for Iranian quiet on the border and security coordination in northern Iraq. The Iranians exploited their freedom of movement to gather high-quality intelligence and introduce capabilities such as anti-tank missiles or shoulder-fired missiles. Thus, a foreign entity held tactical data at the level of the floor where the American president stayed and brought weapons near his movement route. The demand, he says, cannot be limited to an internal investigation of the information leak from the hotel; it must include an unequivocal demand for a comprehensive purge of the shadow terrorist infrastructures operating in Turkey—from Iran to Hamas. He notes that an intelligence organization that knows how to conduct targeted killings in Syria and pursue political rivals worldwide is also capable of shutting down the resistance axis infrastructures, if given the appropriate directive by its leader.