Originally appeared at DWN, translated by John T. Sumner exclusively for SouthFront
A strange BND paper presents Turkey as a “main action platform” for terrorist groups. The Green Party and sections of the CDU thereby consider the recent refugee deal as being unsuccessful. It still remains unclear whether Germany will accept even mercenaries who had fought in Syria.
In a German television interview (ARD), Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had accused Germany not to pursue terrorists whose names Turkey had transmitted to Germany before. Erdogan said: “We have been fighting for 35 to 40 years against terror. A majority of these terrorists is supported and nurtured in Germany as well. I have transmitted 4,000 files regarding these persons to Chancellor Merkel. They are mentioned by name. When I asked her about the issue, she answered that the judicial procedures would still continue. She referred to 4,500 cases already proceeding. Justice that´s been served too late, is no justice at all. The people in question now live in France, in Belgium, in Holland. We have shared all our intelligence information regarding this matter. But these terrorists are still not being extradited to Turkey. We need to coordinate our actions against terrorism. If we fail to do so, problems will be exported to France, to Germany, the Netherlands and all other European countries. ”
Erdogan explicitly mentioned PKK and YPG, but other “foreign” fighters as well. Since the Russians and the Turks have started to cooperate in Syria, a certain nervousness has been spreading among the US neocons due to the question how to handle those mercenaries in Syria, who had been sent by various intelligence services of the West and the Gulf states. It is now impossible to judge which fighters were deployed in Syria, which in Iraq and who fought in Libya – like it is impossible to tell them whereto they could retreat in case of the Russians and Syrians militarily defeating them with the support of Turkey. None of the global or regional powers involved is interested in a capture of them, because this would reveal identity and nationality of those mercenaries. Al-Nusra-Front and IS are backed by the Gulf States allied with the West, of whom Saudi Arabia is the main financer and dispatcher of Islamist mercenaries.
Turkey itself has altered its course after the failed coup attempt, asserting a hard line in Syria and cooperating with the Russians. In Turkish politics and in the media, it is believed that the coup was carried out with support from the West. The US government and NATO have rejected any involvement. This is also credible. However, it is not clear to what extent the CIA and other Western intelligence services have been involved in the attempted coup. On Saturday, US geopolitical strategist Zbigniew Brzezinski had posted on Twitter: “The US support for the coup attempt against the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was a serious mistake and a serious blow to the reputation of the United States.”
Amid this complex mix of transatlantic and NATO interests the release of a request of the Left Party was bursting on Tuesday. The ARD brought parts of the response of the federal government. Thus, the federal government considers Turkey to be a “main action platform” for Islamist and terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East.
But those, who had hoped that the response would include any disclosure regarding al-Nusra and the IS, were disappointed. Admittedly, the paper, designed by the BND, states in a very promising way: “As a result of Ankara´s gradually Islamized domestic and foreign policy, especially since 2011, Turkey has become a main platform for action to Islamist groups in the entire region of the Middle East.” But then, only generalities and cold coffee were served to the MPs in the response, submitted by the Parliamentary Interior Secretary Ole Schröder: “The various expressions of solidarity and support actions for the Egyptian MB (Muslim Brotherhood), the Hamas and groups of armed Islamist opposition in Syria by the ruling AKP and President Erdogan emphasize their ideological affinity with the Muslim Brotherhood. ”
The dpa overdraws the answer quite powerful and writes: “Thus, according to the report, for the first time, the German government is establishing a direct link between the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a terrorist organization – because, other than in Turkey, at least the Hamas is considered a terror organization by the European Union since 2003.” In Egypt, the Muslim brothers have been swept aside by the military a while ago – after having received 1.5 billion Euros from the EU, who apparently did not consider such funding as a financing of terrorists. The reality of double standards regarding the Hamas is common knowledge for decades now.
Seemingly, the German public will not experience any more details. The FAZ reports: “It is illuminated in the non-classified part of the report that for reasons of national interest an open answer will not be given.”
After the publication of the enigmatic document, the Green Party´s parliamentary leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt remarked: “By now it is quite obvious: The refugee agreement with Turkey has failed once and for all.” According to the CDU foreign policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter, negotiations regarding a visa liberalization, that were associated with the refugee pact could not be continued under these conditions. It is unclear whether this will include that Germany should take over those refugees presently being held in Turkey. It is also unclear whether there will be a distinction between war refugees, mercenaries and Islamists during the further acquisition of refugees from the war zone, or whether all of these people should receive asylum without any preconditions. It is interesting in this context that only a few days ago, the EU has also included nationals from Saudi Arabia on its list of people especially being in need of protection.
Every year, the EU is transferring about 500 million Euros into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The Federal Government supported the Hamas government with millions of Euros as well.
In consultation with Israel, Turkey is providing the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid. Under the Egyptian government of the Muslim Brotherhood those Islamists also received funding by the EU. At that time, the Muslim Brotherhood refused to provide information regarding the use of those EU funds.
The CDU deputy Bettina Kudla criticizes that those now raising allegations against Turkey, have been involved in supporting Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood themselves.
I know it’s obvious, then why nobody is suggesting that actually Erdogan is doing US dirty work, and that by falsely reapproching with Russia, Turkey creates conditions for the US and NATO countries to justify war against Assad?