Arrests throw light on Turkish support to ISIS

Muazz Mohamed

The American Newspaper, New York Post, has accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of backing the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (aka ISIS), even after US President Donald Trump said Turkey had participated in the operation for killing ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on October 27.

Turkish confession

On November 16, Turkish authorities said they had arrested 25 relatives of al-Baghdadi in four Turkish states.

A court in the central Turkish Kirsehir province ordered the detention of four Baghdadi relatives pending their interrogation on charges of joining a terrorist organization.

The court also ordered the handover of the remaining 24 relatives to the authorities in preparation for referring them to a deportation camp.

These developments amount to a confession by Turkish authorities that they accommodated a large number of ISIS elements.

On November 12, the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Erdogan as saying before embarking on his latest visit to the US that his country would continue to deport ISIS terrorists to their countries.

“We do not care about whether these countries receive these terrorists or not,” Erdogan said.

He asked the European Union to change its policies towards Turkey, saying that his country keeps all these terrorists away from European borders.

3 ISIS camps

According to the European Center for Counterterrorism and Intelligence Studies, which is based in Germany and the Netherlands, Turkey contains three training centers for ISIS.

Turkey, the center said in a study it published on October 13, also recruits jihadists for the sake of ISIS.

Turkey offers funding for terrorist organizations through the purchase of oil they steal from Iraq and Syria, the center said.

It also allows the terrorists to obtain dangerous materials they use in the making of explosives, it added.

It noted that Turkey also opens its own hospitals to treat terrorists wounded in battles in Iraq and Syria.