By GPD on
February 15, 2016
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been using ISIS to
advance his Middle East policy and suppress the Kurds, and Ankara’s elite
maintains vibrant economic ties with the terror group and harbors its
militants, a Turkish MP has told Russian media.
“Erdogan uses ISIS [Islamic State/IS, also known as
ISIS/ISIL] against the Kurds. He can’t send the Turkish Army directly to Syrian
Kurdistan, but he can use ISIS as an instrument against the Kurds. He has a
greater Ottoman Empire in his mind, that’s his dream, while ISIS is one of the
instruments [to achieve it],” a Turkish MP from
the Peace and Democracy Party told RIA Novosti on Monday.
There are many signs that the Turkish leadership is
aiding Islamic State and benefiting from it, Irmak argued.
“Wounded militants are given medical treatment in
Turkey. For ISIS, Turkey is a very important supply channel. They are allowed
to pass through the Turkish border, being given IDs [and other documents],”she added.
“ISIS has training camps in Turkey,” Irmak
stressed, citing other examples of Turkey providing IS with certain
capabilities, including the fact that all militants go back and forth into
Syria through Turkish territory.
Both the Turkish elite and the terrorist group enjoy
economic ties as well, Irmak argued.
“ISIS’ oil is sold via Turkey. All of ISIS’ external
[trade] operations are being carried out via Turkey and involve not only oil.” Part of
the terrorist group’s criminal business trafficking hostages as well as female
slaves of Yazidi and Assyrian minorities, while “the government is, of
course, well aware of it,” she added.
More proof could be the absence of any violence
between the Turkish military and Islamic State militants.
Syrian army advances into #Raqqa seizing
strategically important areas in anti-ISIS assault
— RT (@RT_com) February 15, 2016
“ISIS never attacked Turkish positions and claimed no
responsibility for terror attacks in Turkey’s cities. There were three large
terror attacks [in 2015] in Diyarbakir, Suruc and Ankara. Each attack caused
harm to the Kurds and opposition activists supporting them,” the MP
noted.
Turkey only intervened when the Kurds retook territory
from the IS-held Kurdish city of Tell Abyad in northern Syria.
“Turkish warplanes formally bombarded the ISIS-held
territory and conducted two airstrikes to show it fights the Islamic State. And
in the meantime, Turkey made 65 airstrikes on Qandil [the PKK stronghold in
mountainous northern Iraq].”
According to Irmak, Ankara feels free to take on the
Kurds because the West is unwilling to harm its interests in the region and
beyond.
“Unfortunately, the international community is
indifferent towards these events. Turkey has taken Europe prisoner by using
Middle Eastern refugees as an instrument of blackmail. The US keeps silent too,
having common interests with Turkey. For instance, the US wants to keep using
the Incirlik airbase […] and the Turkish Army is emboldened by such impunity.”
No comments:
Post a Comment