Paris terror suspect Hayat Boumedienne\u2019s recent escape from France to Syria has renewed concern about Turkey\u2019s ability and willingness to prevent terrorists from transiting through its territory.<\/p>\n
Boumedienne is the romantic partner and alleged accomplice of Amedy Coulibaly, who was shot dead by police after killing four people in a kosher supermarket and shooting a police officer in Paris on Jan. 9. Airport footage shows Boumedienne\u2019s arrival from Madrid to Istanbul on Jan. 2, and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevl\u00fct \u00c7avusoglu<\/em> said she crossed the border to Syria six days later.<\/p>\n Turkey has been the subject of intense criticism from Western governments and commentators over its perceived lack of effort in stemming the flow of foreign fighters crossing its borders. However, some think this isn\u2019t quite fair.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s somewhat of a misplaced criticism,\u201d said Sinan \u00dclgen, a scholar at Carnegie Europe. Though the Turkish government may have formerly looked the other way at the activities of Islamist groups because of a desire to bring down the Assad regime at any cost, \u201cthat policy by and large had changed by April 2014,\u201d according to \u00dclgen.<\/p>\n At that time, Interior Minister Efkan Ala made an effort to enhance border security, \u201chaving realized the risks of getting into that sort of relationship with extremist groups,\u201d said \u00dclgen. However, researcher Gareth Jenkins says it\u2019s still very easy for foreign fighters to cross through Turkey.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you look at the ease with which [terrorists and would-be fighters] are able to go back and forth across the border, there still isn\u2019t a full clampdown,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cIt\u2019s not as easy as it used to be, but it\u2019s still pretty easy.\u201d He said he recently personally witnessed fighters in a Turkish village near the Syrian border. \u201cThere were jihadists sitting around waiting to go across.\u201d<\/p>\n With some 40 million tourists visiting Turkey every year, border security is no easy task, but Jenkins says security forces could be doing a lot more. He claimed that difficulty over border security isn\u2019t the only reason for Turkey\u2019s failure at curbing the flow of foreign citizens seeking to join the ranks of ISIS and other groups.<\/p>\n