Turkey – An international report reveals Erdogan’s cover-up of organizations supporting ISIS; Details
Continuing the dubious ties between the Turkish regime and radical elements in the Middle East, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has decided to block the Turkish parliament from investigating NGOs that have been used as fronts to raise money and recruit jihadists for ISIS. The move came after a request for a parliamentary investigation into ISIS links was made by the opposition Republican People’s Party in May 2019, after several ISIS suspects identified some NGOs as centers for trafficking ISIS fighters.
Erdogan’s concerns
The parliament, controlled by Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its far-right backers, has never had the proposal on the agenda – as confirmed by the Swedish news website Nordic Monitor – effectively eliminating the proposal to launch a legislative investigation into the ISIS network in the country. Under current regulations, parliamentary investigative committees do not have punitive authority, and their reports have the status of recommendations. But the establishment of such committees helps detect irregularities in government institutions, and encourages judicial authorities to initiate criminal proceedings if necessary, and inform the public about government actions.
He continued: Erdogan’s government fears that a parliamentary investigation could unravel the links between ISIS cells and some factions within the Turkish government. A series of deadly terrorist attacks in 2015, blamed on ISIS, helped Erdogan maintain his regime and restore the majority in parliament that he had briefly lost in the summer 2015 elections.
Opposition suffering
2015 was an exceptional year for Turkey in terms of the successive terrorist attacks that have harmed opposition parties according to the website, after they were forced to cancel election rallies under threat. On July 20, 2015, 33 people were killed in a suicide attack in the Suruç district of Şanlıurfa province. On October 10 of the same year, 103 people were killed in a bomb attack on a crowd gathered in front of an Ankara train station. Both were blamed on ISIS, although the terrorist group has not officially claimed responsibility for either.
In an intelligence report published earlier by the Nordic Monitor, it was revealed that Ilhami Bali, the mastermind of these deadly attacks, remained in a hotel under the control of the Turkish intelligence agency MIT in Ankara on 25-27 May 2016. The agency also noted that Bali’s actions were directed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which coordinated covert operations within ISIS to achieve political goals to assist President Erdogan in the elections. The website confirmed that in the general elections of 7 June 2015, the ruling Justice and Development Party lost its majority and could not form a government on its own for the first time since 2003. While a new coalition government was expected, a new election was held in November.
