Turkish President Erdogan clearly hopes that the Islamic State will take care of his enemies — the Kurds and Assad — and then the Turks can march in and reap the benefits.
“Senior Western official: Links between Turkey and ISIS are now ‘undeniable,'” by Natasha Bertrand, Business Insider, July 28, 2015 (thanks to John):
A US-led raid on the compound housing the Islamic State’s “chief financial officer” produced evidence that Turkish officials directly dealt with ranking ISIS members, Martin Chulov of the Guardian reported recently.The officer killed in the raid, Islamic State official Abu Sayyaf, was responsible for directing the terror army’s oil and gas operations in Syria. The Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh) earns up to $10 million a month selling oil on black markets.
Documents and flash drives seized during the Sayyaf raid reportedly revealed links “so clear” and “undeniable” between Turkey and ISIS “that they could end up having profound policy implications for the relationship between us and Ankara,” senior Western official familiar with the captured intelligence told the Guardian.
NATO member Turkey has long been accused by experts, Kurds, and even Joe Biden of enabling ISIS by turning a blind eye to the vast smuggling networks of weapons and fighters during the ongoing Syrian war.
The move by the ruling AKP party was apparently part of ongoing attempts to trigger the downfall of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.
Ankara officially ended its loose border policy last year, but not before its southern frontier became a transit point for cheap oil, weapons, foreign fighters, and pillaged antiquities.
“ISIS commanders told us to fear nothing at all because there was full cooperation with the Turks,” the fighter said. “ISIS saw the Turkish army as its ally especially when it came to attacking the Kurds in Syria.”But as the alleged arrangements progressed, Turkey allowed the group to establish a major presence within the country — and created a huge problem for itself….
A Western diplomat, speaking to The Wall Street Journal in February, expressed a similar sentiment: “Turkey is trapped now — it created a monster and doesn’t know how to deal with it.”…
cs says
Oh no I thought it was all Zionists/Anunnaki/Iluminatti fault, but no, just that Edorgan putting his dirty claw again in the ME.
Jack Diamond says
Confirming what’s been known all along. Everyone has known how to get into Syria to join ISIS, through Turkey. Everyone has known ISIS sold it’s oil to Turkey, it’s wounded got treated in Turkey, it even supposedly set up its first consulate in Turkey. Everyone has known the Kurds and Assad are the enemy for Erdogan and ISIS was a useful ally. Now why is Turkey is allowed to remain in NATO?
Will Doohan says
I agree. Turkey should be kicked out of NATO, and then Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, and Kuwait should be labeled as “Muslim Occupied Christian Land” on all maps in the Western world.
Goat Pimp says
Not only does Turkey need to be expelled from NATO but severe economic sanctions must be place on this terrorist state.
Marco says
Never happen. imam obama adores Edorgan. his favorite and most trusted ally.
mortimer says
KURDISH GENOCIDE BY PROXY!
Erdogan is the MONSTER and the Turks who go along with him are complicit in GENOCIDE of the Kurds.
TURKS HAVE NOT CHANGED since the 1870-1924 genocides that EXTERMINATED four million Christians subjects…Armenians, Assyrians and Anatolian Christians. Most of these people LOST EVERYTHING.
Turkey is preparing to do the same thing to the Kurds while the world looks the other way!
TURKEY IS AN ALLY OF ISIS, rather than an opponent.
Angemon says
As if we needed more reasons to kick Turkey out of NATO and flip them the bird on the whole “joining the EU” thing…
mortimer says
Turkey played this duplicitous game for years now, while the West picked up the pieces and fought the Muslim Bronze Age warriors. Turkey’s Erdogan is a criminal who should be tried for war crimes and atrocities against the Kurds.
Donovan Nuera says
There was an article on another site which asked the question; how did the Turks know about the whereabouts of the ISIS safe houses in Turkey for incoming foreign jihadis and 2 of the big ISIS fixers who ran the system and arrest all of these folks so quickly in the last week? Why are they just now blocking social media feeds from ISIS within Turkey? Where are the western liberals denouncing Ergodan’s support of attacks on Turkish synagogues and his forcing of non-muslims to read the koran? At least the Turkish youths don’t really like Ergodan that much (hard to like a guy who violently squashes popular peaceful demonstrations or who uses tax funds to illegally add on wings to one’s palace like a chintzier version of that skilled palace designer, Saddam Hussein). What is going to happen when another quake hits Istanbul/ Constantinople?? The only thing Turkey gives to the west is a place for Fidel’s son to frolic on a nice fancy yacht and innumerable young british girls who end up pregnant by the resort’s randy cabana boys on vacation.
Judi says
And still thousands of Brits are making Turkey their choice of vacation. Will it take a Tunisia-style massacre to wake them up!
kay says
Re : “ISIS commanders told us to fear nothing at all because there was full cooperation with the Turks,” the fighter said. “ISIS saw the Turkish army as its ally especially when it came to attacking the Kurds in Syria.”
Yeah, like I said. Erdogan’s people are the bad guys and have been crucially important support and partners for the bloodthirsty psychopathic ( and classically Islamic ) Islamic State.
Well, he have the smoking guns here. This needs to trigger a huge change in the domestic politics of Turkey, European relations, and US-Turkey relations.
First, the Turkish people need to flush Erdogan’s very major party down the toilet.
Second, the Europeans and NATO need to guard themselves against the Islamofascist regime of Erdogan’s Turkey.
Third, the US needs to completely change the military and political approach to Turkey.
No more warm hugs or embraces or effusive praise for this sociopath / psychopath Erdogan.
Now remember, this is the guy who claimed outrage that three young Muslims were gunned down some months back in North Carolina. That incident was personal, not part of a larger anti-Muslim operation.
But Erdogan is the evil bad guy who worked closely with Islamic State, the primary threat to western societies and civilization. He’s got massive blood on his hands.
He’s okay with rape and slavery, with murder of Kurds and Christians.
In fact, there have been quite a few bomb attacks on peaceful Kurdish political gatherings in Turkey during recent months. Some have been devastating.
People in the streets of Turkey should be marching against this fascist Erdogan.
He should be roundly condemned as the evil sociopath and Islamic State partner he is.
Things aren’t going well for Erdogan.
He would prefer that Islamic State become strong and wipe out the Syrian regime.
He’s only making small efforts against his pals the Islamic State because he obviously has to save some credibility.
But in fact, Erdogan’s credibility is less than zero.
I’d say it’s hovering at about negative one hundred percent.
Erdogan is an Islamist and a sociopath and a major problem maker in a dangerous time and place. It is clearly time the Turks throw him out.
No compromise with Erdogan. No compromise with the death cult.
Regime change for Turkey!
Re Donovan: ” Where are the western liberals denouncing Ergodan’s support of attacks on Turkish synagogues and his forcing of non-muslims to read the koran?”
It’s long overdue. Any REAL liberal would oppose Erdogan for the same reason any real liberal would oppose Adolph Hitler.
Sam Harris is right. Fake liberals are absolutely part of the problem.
“The only religion I respect is Islam. The only prophet I admire is the Prophet Muhammad.”
— Adolph Hitler, quoted by Ahmed Huber; Kevin Coogan, “The mysterious Achmed Huber: Friend to Hitler”
“This is an expression of a world view. And this world view is contagious…We’re talking about the spread of ideas…The point we cannot ignore…is that we are at war with a global phenomenon of jihadism. And there can be no compromise with this death cult. And these fake liberals..are absolutely part of the problem. They are preventing us from demanding that the Muslim community worldwide get its act together… The civilized word is waiting for this to happen. And people continue to die until it does.”
— Sam Harris
voegelinian says
kay keeps referring to “people” in Turkey who should do this, do that (protest against Erdogan, etc.), as though the vast majority of Turkish “people” were not Sunni fanatics (i.e., normal Muslims).
kay says
Re: kay keeps referring to “people” in Turkey who should do this, do that (protest against Erdogan, etc.), as though the vast majority of Turkish “people” were not Sunni fanatics (i.e., normal Muslims).
kay responds:
I know about the Ottoman Empire. Enough, anyway. The Turks were fascists. They slaughtered Armenians this century.
The hope was that Turks were now “more secular” in the public sphere.
Turns out Erdogan is evil and and has been a big supporter of Islamic State, and his team did some bombing of a couple Kurdish political rallies.
I am not appealing to “the better nature” of the Turkish people. But they need to stand TOGETHER against Islamic State. As a matter of self-preservation.
Turkey made a great partner for Islamic State. The Turks need to clean house and remove the Islamofascist collaborators in their own house. To save themselves.
Islamic State has huge international support.
This is gonna get So Ugly.
The mullahs in Iran are fascist and brutal, and now they will become stronger. Everything is becoming more unstable, more dangerous, and the civilian populations will suffer tremendously.
The whole region is a basket case. If the Turks do not get this by now and do not take the appropriate measures, then they are the most stupid and reckless. They cannot simply watch the house next door burn to the ground. An Islamic State victory in Syria should terrify them. Turkey must now fight against Islamic State jihad next door.
If they were smart they would attack Raqqa.
Unfortunately, the overall playbook for the local regimes is standard Arab “Let’s you and him fight.” Thus, Islamic State gets to do whatever in Syria. That is insane.
The Syrian government could fall, and in that case Iran and Islamic State and Israel are face to face, a recipe for complete disaster!
David, Thailand says
I’m impressed that our glorious leaders now know what everyone else already knew.
quotha raven says
David – Don’t be naive. The leaders that count have known for a long time and, indeed, worked tirelessly, even if lying the whole time, for years to set the whole situation up, including attempts to install Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and elsewhere with an idea to uniting jihadists throughout the ME and North Africa and set the geography for a global caliphate. Cheers! Quotha
Wellington says
If Erdogan is not on the wrong side of history, then no one is and history is an idiot.
For the record, I don’t think history is an idiot, though the truths it reveals are often elusive and thus difficult to discover many times since it does engage in enigmatic diversions now and again. Erdogan is a front and center example of this axiom which I have proposed.
Blangwort says
Turks with Nukes. ISIS in alliance with Turkey. What could possibly go wrong?
umbra says
Some turk planes have been certified to carry US nukes. However, turks do have have arming codes for those nukes. The US military has those codes, though obama has launch authorisation.
cjk says
I can confidently predict that US relations with Turkey will only improve under Obama.
Don McKellar says
SO WHAT’S OBAMA GOING TO DO ABOUT THIS?
quotha raven says
To Don McKellar – “SO WHAT’S OBAMA GOING TO DO ABOUT THIS?”
Probably the same thing he and Hillary did when Benghazi gun-running through Turkey to Syria resulted in the murders of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Look for a scapegoat, maybe a handy, feckless filmmaker (who is still in jail, as far as I know)? You may disagree with what I say happened in Benghazi, but I am convinced gun-running to Syria through Turkey is exactly what was going on there and led to the horrific events we are aware of.
Or maybe (ya think?) Obama doesn’t care what you or I think and he’s just going to ignore the Kurds (as he has already indicated he is willing to do elsewhere…Iraq?) and throw them under the bus.
And/or maybe he’s going to shake Erdogan’s hand or bow to him or embrace him and let the world know Obama supports Turkey being let into the Euro Union.
Anything other than doing one or more of the above would be inconsistent with Obama’s actions since he first became president, and one thing I have observed about Obama is that he is COMPLETELY consistent in his alliances. Forget what is good for the USA. He’s got Global World Order in mind, and he’s certainly not going to deviate now! It’s only going to get worse (if possible) during these last days of his presidency, when he has nothing to lose. He is becoming more and more brazen.
It gives me agita when I think Hillary is there, standing in the wings, waiting to take over and further Obama’s agenda.
There you have it, Don McK. That’s my take! Cheers! Quotha R
hc says
And it’s just great that Turkey is allowing us to use their runway?
Baucent says
Erdogan and Putin are birds of a feather, they both have a messiah complex.
The wannabe Sultan has been fuming for weeks since the Kurds handed him an election defeat to frustrate his plans to expand his powers. This attack on the PKK was payback time. But Nato’s statement of support for Turkey is a blow for the Kurds as well, they deserve better from the West after leading the only effective opposition to ISIS.
umbra says
This turk assault on isis and pkk could be preparation work to sway parts of the turkish electorate (nationalist portion) towards the akp for a possible early election. Alternatively (or in addition to), it could also be a political manoeuvre to try and form a minority government (or unity government against terrorist threats) with mhp or chp. Either way, time is running out for the akp to form a government before another election in called.
Aton says
Jezzz, are they just catching on now? I wrote a report back in 2012 that said exactly this.
Advice to the UK and US government – if you want to produce a viable foreign policy, you need advisers who know their history and have a proven track-record of correct predictions.
Aton
spac says
Turkey is the monster state in Middle east .It sits on the corpses of 3 million Asia minor Christians . The world at large is not aware of the brutality if this nation to the Christians and other non Muslims . The wealth Tax of 1942 is the best example for Turks dealing with non Muslims . After eliminating the Christians generally from Turkey ,lead by Ata turk Turkey imposed the so called wealth tax to literally eliminate the remaining Christians and Jews from Turkey . (The tax structure was 4 % to Muslims ,159% for Greek Christians ,176% for Jews and 253% for Armenian Christians ) . That country is such a monster that they eliminated the indigenous Armenians from Anatolia and changed even the names of cities and villages to eliminate all the traces of the Christian civilization
The sad thing is that Christian Europe especially Germany is ally of such a devil ….the reason ???????
sidney penny says
Turkey is doing what Pakistan is doing..
Pretend to be friends/aliy of the West /USA and play a double game.
In reality Turkey and Pakistan do not support the West or USA
Catherine says
Good to see Business Insider is finally seeing this connection. Walid Shoebat has been saying that Turkey enabled the creation of Islamic State for over a year now, just after IS “went public” in June of 2014. The connection is undeniable and, for well-informed individuals, has been for quite some time. As Robert correctly states, Turkey is merely using IS to eliminate some enemies and clear the playing field for the time when Erdogan begins to implement the Grand Caliphate he speaks openly of re-establishing in the region. Good morning BI; it’s a brave new world.
Linde Barrera says
Western tourists and travellers should boycott Turkey, not visit any historic/religious sites in Turkey and not even change passenger planes in Turkey, enjoy route to other destinations.
Jerry says
In order to defeat IS it may be necessary to starve Turkey of arms and munitions, impose sanctions and bomb Istanbul and Ankara.
It is an Islamic supremacist state that only pretends to be an ally of the West but
facilitated IS logistics from the beginning.
It is an enemy to all Christians and Jews, but it is also an enemy of the Kurds whose majority is also nominally Muslims but many are truly secular.
Propaganda is fixated upon achieving statehood for the “Palestinians”, a fake nation whose members are mainly a mixture of other Middle Easters Arabs identical to them ethnically, religiously and linguistically. Originally only a few hundred thousand before 1948 they were artificially bolstered by Western funding and allowed to over-breed but still only number about four and a half million at the most.
The Kurds consist of a fairly homogeneous and cohesive ethnic and linguistic group nominally Muslims but largely secular numbering somewhere between thirty five and forty five million but hypocrisy in the West denies them statehood and allows them to be oppressed by the Turks, Iranians, Syrians and Iraqis.
In the most insane of political hypocrisy the “Namibians”, consisting mainly of two ethnic tribes totalling only a few hundred thousands actually were granted independence, while most Muslims and many in the West are striving to dismantle Israeli Jewish independence.