Turkey

Turkey Funds And Protects ISIS, NATO Turns Blind Eye, Supports War Crime Against Russia

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• published: 04 Dec 2015
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Recent research carried out by a team of experts from Columbia University, including researchers from the United States of America, Turkey and the European Union, led by David L. Phillips, Director of the Program of Peace-Building and Rights, Columbia University Institute for the Study of Human Rights, has raised allegations that Turkey has been collaborating with Islamic State. While Turkish President Erdogan denies these allegations and speaks about a smear campaign in the media, let us see the allegations for ourselves, set out in the research paper "ISIS-Turkey links". The first allegation is that Turkey has supplied military equipment to Islamic State, the object of the allegation being documents from the Adana Office of the Prosecutor which show that Turkey has been arming terrorist groups. The allegations include evidence from truck drivers delivering such equipment In January 2014. The second allegation is that logistical assistance was provided by Turkey to Islamic State fighters, and that Turkey is a known transit point for terrorists entering Iraq and Syria; it has also been claimed that Turkey has provided satellite images to ISIS. The third allegation is that Turkey has trained Islamic State fighters or has allowed Turkish territory to be used for gathering and training purposes. Furthermore, convoys of Islamic State terrorists have crossed freely to and from Turkey in full view of Turkish soldiers. The fourth allegation is that medical aid has been extended by Turkey to Islamic State fighters. Turkey is funding Islamic State, NATO turns blind eye The fifth allegation is that Turkey has been buying oil from Islamic State, providing the terrorist group with funds, while there are claims that illegal pipelines run from Syria through the territory into Turkey. This is not one tanker or two taking advantage of a dodgy security situation. It is chains of vehicles stretching out into the horizon, lining up to buy oil from Islamic State and provide this terrorist group with funds. Day and night, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, a constant pipeline-lifeline of money going from Turkey into Islamic State's coffers, funding the terrorist activities of this extremist group. And Turkey is in NATO and NATO does nothing. On top of this, there are reports of cultural treasures looted from Syria and Iraq crossing into Turkey. The sixth allegation is that Islamic State fighters are being recruited in Turkey and operations are launched from Turkey to recruit Turkish-speaking Islamic State terrorists from Turkey and Germany. Mortars been fired against the Syrian Arab Army (the Syrian authority) from inside Turkey. Turkey is being used as a base by terrorists and NATO does nothing. But then again, people in NATO countries were weeping and saying the Lord's Prayer for the victims in Paris - how many of them were mourning the victims (almost double in number) of the terrorist strike against the Russian passenger jet or the military personnel murdered by terrorists after Turkey shot down a Russian bomber over Syria? The seventh allegation is that Turkish terrorists have joined Islamic State and are fighting alongside them on the front line. There are claims that Turkey has also supported the al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra Front and has sent special forces to fight with Islamic State. The eighth allegation is that Turkey actively intervened in the Battle of Kobani, supplying Islamic State with trains full of ammunition and supplies. The ninth allegation is that Erdogan and the Turkish elite share a similar worldview with Islamic State, being Islamists. Perhaps that is why Kurdish fighters were allegedly prevented by the Turks from entering Syria to fight against Islamic State. This is not the fault of the Turkish people, many of whom wish to see a balanced society in which people can express themselves. This is not the Turkey of Erdogan. The Turkey of Erdogan aids, abets and finances terrorists, walks hand-in-hand with Islamist terrorism, oppresses its people, murders Kurds, murders Alevi and commits war crimes... The "stab in the back" heard round the world-Turkey's surreptitious downing of a Russian SU-24 as it flew in Syria's northwestern Latakia province-not only cost pilot Oleg Peshkov his life and constituted a war crime under Article 51 of the UN Charter, but reveals Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's ambivalent geopolitical ambitions. Turkey has become a servant of too many masters, forcing the ruling AKP in a predicament that it may not be able to control later.