Erdogan paves way for Daesh to return to Europe

Ali Ragab

A decision by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to open the borders with Greece has put pressure on the European Union, especially Greece, which bears the greatest burden of confronting the new wave launched by the Turkish President.

It is no secret to anyone the relation between Turkish intelligence and extremist groups in Syria and Libya, and Erdogan’s regime oversees the transfer of terrorists and mercenaries from Syria to Libya, as well as the use of extremist religious discourse in support of these groups.

Erdogan has warned Western nations that he would continue to release people who were thought to be members of Daesh and send them back to their home countries if governments continued to pressure Turkey with sanctions.

Speaking to reporters shortly before leaving Ankara for a visit to the United States, Erdogan was mostly aiming the remarks at the European Union, which has proposed a system for imposing sanctions on Turkey over its unauthorized gas drilling in the eastern Mediterranean.

The comments came a day after Turkey said it had begun deporting Daesh fighters it had captured, starting a program to repatriate the detainees that has strained ties with European countries.

Gen. Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said his alliance anticipated a direct Turkish intervention in Syria and claimed that Turkey had ‘coordinated’ with Daesh.

“We were expecting a sectarian and civil war in Syria, and that there would be direct regional interference in Syria, in particular by Turkey.

“For that reason, we trained and prepared our youth for this stage, and when the civil war began we were ready for it, and we filled the void that the Syrian government left with its immediate withdrawal from this area,” Abdi said.

Abdi alleged that all foreign Daesh fighters, with no exception, came to Syria via Istanbul airport and other Turkish airports from Turkish territories, adding that the Turkish state “facilitated” Daesh militants’ entry to Syria.

Turkey itself cannot deny this, he claimed, explaining that the battle of Kobani and the terror group’s defeat there was a turning point in the fight against IS in Syria.

Observers warned against the return of terrorist operations by Daesh, after Erdogan opened the borders to them in a “green light” with the return of the organization’s activity in Europe, to serve Erdogan’s policy in the region and the continued blackmail to occupy Syria and Libya, steal Mediterranean gas, and obtain funds from countries.

Erdogan has recently announced that Turkey has opened its borders with Europe to allow immigrants on its land to cross, affirming at the same time that Ankara will not be able to deal with the amount of people fleeing Syria’s war.

Erdogan even claimed 18,000 migrants had crossed the border, without immediately providing supporting evidence.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Greece had increased “the level of deterrence at our borders to the maximum.”

In a news briefing after the cabinet meeting, government spokesman Stelios Petsas announced that Greece will not accept for a month, beginning Sunday, any asylum applications from migrants entering the country illegally and, where possible, will immediately return them to the country they entered from.

Greece is determined to receive help from the EU and has announced that it will also ask the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, also known as Frontex, to engage in a rapid border intervention to protect Greece’s borders, which are also EU’s borders.