Video - TV Report Shows Hamas terrorists Missile-Launching Pads in Gaza Tunnels

Video - Top Hamas Official Osama Hamdan: 486 Children Killed in Gaza, 4,500 new potential martyrs Born.

Video - Friday Sermon among Ruins of Gaza Mosque: We Are Willing to Sacrifice Two Million Martyrs

Pres. Obama says won't let Islamic militants create caliphate

Pres. Obama says won't let Islamic militants create caliphate. (TAZ).

U.S. President Barack Obama said he was willing to consider broader use of military strikes in Iraq to beat back Islamist militants, but Iraqi political leaders must first figure out a way to work with each other, the New York Times reported.

In a wide-ranging interview conducted on Friday, Obama also expressed regrets over not doing more to help Libya, pessimism about prospects for Middle East peace, concerns that Russia could invade Ukraine, and frustration that fellow economic superpower China has not stepped up to help, Reuters reported.

Obama on Thursday authorized the U.S. military to conduct targeted strikes on Islamic State fighters in northern Iraq, a limited operation designed to prevent what he called a potential "genocide" of a religious sect and also protect American officials working in the country.

But in the interview with Times columnist Thomas Friedman, Obama said the United States may eventually do more to help Iraq repel the militant group, which seeks to control its own state.

"We're not going to let them create some caliphate through Syria and Iraq," Obama said in the interview, excerpts of which the Times posted on its website late on Friday.

"But we can only do that if we know that we have got partners on the ground who are capable of filling the void," he said.

He praised officials from Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region for being "functional" and "tolerant of other sects and religions" and said the United States wanted to help.

"But, more broadly, what I've indicated is that I don't want to be in the business of being the Iraqi air force," he said.

Obama has faced growing criticism for being too reluctant to intervene in thorny foreign policy issues which have piled up under his watch.

He quipped that he sometimes wished the United States was more like China: a superpower that no one expects to intervene."They are free riders, and they've been free riders for the last 30 years, and it's worked really well for them," Obama said.

He told the Times that he regretted his government did not do more to help rebuild Libya after NATO-led air strikes in 2011 that toppled Muammar Gaddafi. The nation has been wracked by fighting and chaos.
"So that's a lesson that I now apply every time I ask the question, 'Should we intervene militarily?'" Obama said. "Do we have an answer the day after?"

Obama's administration has also been trying to encourage ceasefires in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinians, and applying economic sanctions against Russia to try to get Moscow to stop supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine.

He expressed doubts about whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas could come to the kind of longer term peace deal that former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was able to broker, and that former Israeli prime ministers Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Rabin accepted.

"In some ways Bibi's too strong, in some ways Abbas is too weak to bring them together and make the kind of bold decisions that a Sadat or a Begin or a Rabin were willing to make," Obama said.

Obama said he feared that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not back down from eastern Ukraine, where Moscow has supported separatists.
"He could invade," Obama said.

Video - Gen. McCaffrey 'Dismayed' by U.S. Strategy in Iraq, Political Show, mere 'pin pricks'

Hmmmm.....Flashback 2010: Obama: "If We Work Hard, Afghanistan Could Be a Success...Like Iraq!" Soon coming the Afghanistan 'Success'

Video - Terrorist group Islamic State publishes propaganda video from the 'liberated' areas in Northern Iraq

Muslim Brotherhood 'Godfather' Qaradawi gives his Blessing to 'Islamist' Erdogan.

Muslim Brotherhood 'Godfather' Qaradawi gives his Blessing to 'Islamist' Erdogan.

Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu "If you want war, if you want our children to be killed in wars in the Middle East, go and vote for Erdoğan."

Video - The Islamic State threatens to "liberate" Istanbul,

Here is the second part in which Dairieh meets an ISIL member from Belgium who works to indoctrinate some of the youngest members of the group.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who now refer to themselves as the Islamic State (IS), has threatened to "liberate" Istanbul, while accusing Turkey of cutting off the flow of the Euphrates River, drying up northern Syria, including Raqqa, "the capital of the Islamic State."

"I pray to God that the apostate [Turkish] government reconsiders its decisions because if they don't reconsider it now, we'll reconsider it for them by liberating Istanbul," ISIL's "press officer" Abu Mosa told Vice News in Raqqa.

When reporter Medyan Dairieh asked if this is a threat, Abu Mosa answered: "Yes, it is a clear threat. If they don't open [the Atatürk dam in Turkey that diverts the water], we'll unblock it from Istanbul."Read the full story here.

In Erdogan's Turkey even Newborns can vote: "Total number of ballots to be printed 73,849,080".

In Erdogan's Turkey even Newborns can vote: "Total number of ballots to be printed 73,849,080". (HD).

Turkey’s top election body has declared an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) interim report on the country’s state of affairs in the run-up to the presidential election as “groundless.”

“It is not possible to understand the groundless report [by the OSCE] which was prepared in a way to sway public opinion to think that the ‘YSK [Supreme Election Board] is arbitrarily printing ballots,’ [in other words] saying that there is no legislation even though legal provisions are clear,” YSK President Sadi Güven said in a written statement released late Aug. 7.

Güven’s statement came as a response to claims listed in an interim report by the Limited Election Observation Mission (LEOM), which was deployed by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on July 31.

In its report, the OSCE delegation stated that the ballot order of the presidential candidates was selected by the YSK at lottery and that it had already started printing ballots.

“The YSK informed the OSCE/ODIHR LEOM that the total number of ballots to be printed was 73,849,080. The YSK’s decision on the number of ballots to be issued lacks a clear legal basis,” the delegation said.

The report recalled that four parliamentary parties and groups who received the highest number of votes in the last general election have the right to appoint non-voting representatives to the YSK.

“The delegation didn’t believe us, even though the YSK members introduced [the HDP representative] and showed them a copy of the original assignment letter, [the OSCE delegation still] questioned the matter. While this behavior is both offending and unacceptable, it is also not understood why it was additionally noted in the interim report,” said Güven. Hmmmm.....'It's not important who votes but who counts the votes'Read the full story here.

Turkey ended 2013 with a population of 76,484,000 people, which represents an increasea of 856,616 people compared to 2012.

The female population is greater, with 38,135,579 women, representing 49.86% of the total, compared to 36,797,062 or 48.11% men.

Age structure:
0-14 years: 25.9% (male 10,682,900/female 10,201,965)
15-24 years: 17% (male 6,979,955/female 6,703,689)
25-54 years: 42.7% (male 17,375,544/female 17,097,927)
55-64 years: 7.9% (male 3,189,731/female 3,169,450)
65 years and over: 6.6% (male 2,422,983/female 2,870,341) (2013 est.) 

Another Islamist Dictator rising: ""Tayyip, we will go to our deaths for you!"

Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu "If you want war, if you want our children to be killed in wars in the Middle East, go and vote for Erdoğan."

Another Islamist Dictator rising: ""Tayyip, we will go to our deaths for you!" (Spiegel).

Snipers are in position on the roofs while helicopters circle above the square, where a crowd of people are waving flags depicting a crescent moon. Thousands have come from Istanbul, Ankara and the Black Sea to the small city of Yozgat in Central Anatolia. They have waited for hours in the heat to cheer for their leader. They chant his name as his campaign's theme song booms from the loudspeakers: "Man of the People, Recep Tayyip Erdogan."

When the Turkish prime minister walks onto the stage, women in headscarves break out in tears and bearded men fall to their knees.

Erdogan raises his hands and shouts: "Are we brothers and sisters? Are we Turks?" The crowd responds: "Tayyip, we will go to our deaths for you!" It's campaign season in Turkey, but that barely explains the frenzy. Erdogan has described his campaign as a war of liberation. His voters, the ones he hopes will make him president, are his troops.

In Istanbul's Kasimpasa harbor district, doors are unhinged and the homeless sniff glue under bridges. This is where Erdogan grew up and where he has his roots. The adolescent Erdogan was a "Black Turk," an outsider, whose father Ahmet made a living shipping goods across the Bosporus.

The young Erdogan learned to assert himself at an early age. He sold sesame pastries on the street, and was reportedly quick to lash out when someone tried to cheat him. Old people in the neighborhood remember him as an angry youth. "Tayyip never shied away from a fight," says one man. "He used to climb on to the roof of the mosque and recite verses from the Koran."

Erdogan was a striker with Erokspor, the local football club. He attended a religious Imam Hatip school, studied business administration and worked as a bookkeeper in a sausage factory before joining the Islamist Refah Party, where he met his wife Emine.

As president, Erdogan will also cripple the last control mechanisms, warns the president of the Turkish Bar Association, Metin Feyzioglu. "There are no longer any limits to his despotism."

The duties of the Turkish president are largely limited to ceremonial matters today, but Erdogan plans to expand his powers. And once he is president, there will no longer be anyone to veto new laws. As president, Erdogan will no longer be answerable to anyone, says Feyzioglu, and his successor in the office of prime minister will be a puppet at best.

The constitutional court, which has repeatedly prevented Erdogan from becoming excessively high-handed, will likely be eliminated as a corrective body, because the president appoints the judges.

For these reasons, Istanbul law professor Bertan Tokuzlu believes that the vote on Aug. 10 will be the "most important election in Turkey's more recent history." 

There will be no turning back if Erdogan becomes president, he notes. "Then he will transform Turkey into a one-man state, once and for all."

Erdogan himself makes no secret of how he intends to govern in the future. In a television interview in late July, he announced his intention to introduce a presidential system, and he cited China and Russia as models. Government affairs, Erdogan said, are obstructed by "oligarchs in the bureaucracy," and "our path is interrupted by hurdles." In the Erdogan state, there will no longer be any hurdles.Hmmm....I've always considered Erdogan more dangerous than Ahmadinejad, time only proves me right. The 'Sick Man' of Europe has Transformed in to the 'Mad Man' of Europe. Read the full story here.

The 'Sick Man' of Europe has Transformed in to the 'Mad Man' of Europe.

The 'Sick Man' of Europe has Transformed in to the 'Mad Man' of Europe.(OSCE).

Dunja Mijatović, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media expressed concern today over the targeting of prominent Turkish journalist Amberin Zaman by the highest authorities in Turkey.

”I am alarmed by the latest example of intimidation of and threats towards journalists in Turkey,” Mijatović said.

”Critical ideas  are indispensable elements of democratic debates, and they need to be safeguarded and not attacked by the authorities.”

On 7 August, during a campaign rally in the southern province of Malatya, the Prime Minister of Turkey  directly and severely criticized journalist Amberin Zaman, which resulted in a smear campaign against her, including on social media.

 ”The widespread smear campaign against Amberin Zaman threatens her safety,” the Representative said.

Zaman has worked as Turkey correspondent of The Economist for 15 years and is a columnist for the Turkish newspaper Taraf.

The Prime Minister’s remarks follow Zaman’s comments made on CNN Türk on 5 August.

Representative Miajtović has been calling for increased freedom of expression in Turkey since she took office in 2010. Her earlier statements can be found at www.osce.org/fom.

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media observes media developments in all 57 OSCE participating States. She provides early warning on violations of freedom of expression and media freedom and promotes full compliance with OSCE media freedom commitments. Learn more at www.osce.org/fom, Twitter: @OSCE_RFoM and on facebook.com/osce.rfom.

Turkish opposition says documents prove intell trucks were carrying weapons destined for al-Qaeda, ISIL.

Turkish opposition says documents prove intell trucks were carrying weapons destined for al-Qaeda, ISIL. (HD).

“What was found in the trucks is on official minutes. Images of all of these are also present. In each of the trucks, there are two big coffers made of sheet metal. Ammunition was being carried in them. In the first coffer in the first truck, 25-30 missiles and rockets, the lot numbers of which are written in Cyrillic alphabet. Impact fuses for missiles and rockets, with around 350-400 grenade launcher ammunition. In the second coffer, 20-25 missiles were designated. Mortar ammunition was found in 25-30 wooden coffers and antiaircraft ammunition in five or six sacks,” Tezcan listed.

“In the second truck; 90-100 cannon balls and packages with Arabic writing on them were found. In the third truck, they could barely conduct any search. The caliber and amount ammunition of which were not designated and were randomly put in that truck and found. Since it was not possible to count the ammunition under those conditions, they wanted to take it to the military garrison. However, it was interfered with and could not be taken in,” Tezcan added. Hmmm......No wonder the Turkish 'State' wants life imprisonment for the guards who stopped these trucks.Read the full story here.

"Sanctions That Benefit" - Iran increases oil exports to U.S. 'Ally' Turkey.

"Sanctions That Benefit" - Iran increases oil exports to U.S. 'Ally' Turkey. (Taz).

Iran has increased its oil exports to Turkey in the first three months of 2014 compared to the last year's corresponding period, the Turkish Energy Market Supervisory body announced.

Turkey imported about 3.84 million barrels of crude oil from Iran in the first three month of 2014 showing four percent rise compared with the first quarter of 2013, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported on May 23.

Turkey imported a total of 1.2 million barrels of crude oil and 40 percent of that was from Iran.

On May 20, director of the International Affairs Department at National Iranian Oil Company Mohsen Ghamsari said that for the time being Iran exports about 100,000 to 115,000 bpd of crude to Turkey.
Iran's contract with Turkey is evergreen, he said.

The evergreen contract is an agreement between two parties which is automatically renewed after each completion- or maturity period, until canceled by either party.

Iran's oil exports dropped for a second month in April, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said, moving closer to levels allowed by Geneva interim deal.

Global imports of Iranian crude in April averaged 1.11 million barrels per day the IEA said in its monthly Oil Market Report released on May 15, down 180,000 bpd from March.

"Imports of Iranian crude reached a 20-month high of 1.58 million barrels per day in February but have since edged lower," the IEA said in the report.

By holding 157 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil reserves, Iran possesses the world's fourth largest reserves of crude oil.

Hmmm....I've posted many times about the Iran - Turkey oil scam approved by the Obama 'admin' Turkey is the lifeline of Iran.

Related: 
As expected Obama will give BFF Turkey a waiver from sanctions, they 'only' import 45 percent of their oil from Iran and aid Iran avoiding sanctions.

AND: 

Turkey starts exporting oil from northern Iraq to international markets

Honestly it's Iraqi oil :)

Germany's Pres responds to PM Erdoğan’s criticism: I even restrained myself.

Germany's Pres responds to PM Erdoğan’s criticism: I even restrained myself.(HD).

German President Joachim Gauck did not wait long to respond to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s harsh reaction to his criticism of the Turkish government, saying he even “restrained himself” during his visit to Ankara.

“I allow myself to comment about the critical issues of a society. I not only talk with the government, but also those who are governed. This is a normal thing among friends,” Gauck said late April 29, commenting on Erdoğan’s reaction that his remarks were not proper for a statesman but rather for “a priest.”

Gauck, who was elected president following the resignation of Christian Wulff after a corruption scandal, was a former East German Lutheran pastor.

Erdoğan also accused him of “telling lies,” which the German president categorically rejected. “I did not invent anything. I even restrained myself,” he said.

During a joint press conference with his counterpart Abdullah Gül on April 28, Gauck touched many nerves in Ankara by voicing concerns about the government’s recent moves to block Twitter and intervene in the independence of the judiciary. He even went further at an address at the Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ), confessing to being “terrified” of the way Turkish authorities suppressed street demonstrations.

Unsurprisingly, his words did not go unanswered by the pugnacious Turkish prime minister.

“One should do whatever being a statesman requires. I suppose he still deems himself a pastor because he was a pastor at the time and he is looking with that view. These are awful things,” Erdoğan told his party lawmakers on April 29. Hmmm......The German president had the courtesy to restrain himself, he shouldn't expect this much from Erdogan when he visits Germany, every Muslim brotherhood spark will be fanned in Germany by Erdogan.

Video - Full Charlie Rose interview with Turkish PM Erdogan

Obama's BFF Islamist Turkey to Champion the Palestinian claim to JEWISH Jerusalem.

Obama's BFF Islamist Turkey to Champion the Palestinian claim to JEWISH Jerusalem.(TZ).

Turkey will host a United Nations committee meeting on the “question of Jerusalem” from May 12-13 in Ankara.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu is scheduled to deliver one of the opening speeches at the two-day meeting organized by the UN's Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), according to a statement released by the Foreign Ministry.

The meeting is planned to strengthen international support for a just and lasting solution to the question of Jerusalem and will take place in light of the UN General Assembly's declaration of 2014 as Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

Turkey has expressed its support for the Palestinian people's right to an independent state, conveying its wish that 2014 will bring lasting peace for the Palestinians.

Turkey is one of the staunchest supporters of the Palestinian struggle for statehood. It also strongly supported Palestine's attempt to gain non-member observer status at the UN.(And supporter of terrorist group Hamas)

According to a statement released by the United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine (UNISPAL) on its website, the objective of the meeting is to “raise awareness of the international community for the significance of a just solution of the question of Jerusalem for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and for achieving peace in the Middle East.”

“The Organizers wish to contribute to the current international efforts to achieve a permanent settlement of the question of Palestine by emphasizing the need for the establishment of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine in the borders of 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The Meeting will also look at the status of Jerusalem from a religious and legal perspective,” said the UNISPAL statement.

"The status of Jerusalem in international law," "the current situation in Jerusalem" and "the role of the international community in promoting a just solution" will be the topics discussed during the plenary meetings, according to the provisional program of the event.Hmmm...PM Benjamin Netanyahu, should NEVER had apologized to Islamist ruled Turkey.

Senior Turkish MP: Ankara Supervising Flow of Heavy Arms to Militants in Syria.

Senior Turkish MP: Ankara Supervising Flow of Heavy Arms to Militants in Syria. (Fars).

The foreign-backed militants fighting against the Syrian government in Syria are receiving heavy arms via Turkey under the supervision of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT), a senior Turkish lawmaker disclosed on Saturday.

"The terrorists who attacked the city of Kassab (near the Turkish border) in Lattakia  (in Northern Syria) have used Turkish soil to smuggle heavy weapons to Syria and this measure has taken place under the supervision of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT)," Turkish opposition MP Refiq Eryilmaz told the Syrian state news agency.

He underlined that supporters of terrorism in Syria should claim responsibility for their crimes in Syria.

Ankara has on several occasions sent arms to Syrian militants to help them fight against the Damascus government.

In one of such cases in June 2013, Ankara sent 400 tons of arms supplied by some Persian Gulf states to the militants in Syria.

"Twenty trailers crossed from Turkey and are being distributed to arms depots for several brigades across the North," said Mohammad Salam, a rebel operative who witnessed the crossing from an undisclosed location in Hatay at the time.

The delivery was being called the single biggest weapons cache to reach the rebels since the unrest began more than two years ago.

The consignment - mostly ammunition for shoulder-fired weapons and anti-aircraft machine guns - came into Northern Syria via the Turkish province of Hatay and was already being handed out, the sources added.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and several other Arab Persian Gulf states have backed the insurgents.

NATO 'Ally' and Obama's BFF Turkey takes third place in the World considering the U.S. As an ENEMY.

NATO 'Ally' and Obama's BFF Turkey takes third place in the World considering the U.S. As an ENEMY. HT: pewglobal.

Purely 'Coincidental' the percentage is the same as the AKP voters percentage :)

Hmmm.....As i said many, many times before,  time for the U.S. , NATO and Europe to WAKE UP AND SMELL THE ISLAMIST COFFEE!

Turkey's tanks being sent to the terrorists who massacred the people of Syria?

Turkey's tanks being sent to the terrorists who massacred the people of Syria? halkhaber.

Many tanks carried by wagon train coming from Tarsus region were deployed to the Syrian border under heavy security measures after a short waiting at the Adana train station.

The question is that Turkey is not at war thats why it hasn’t been understood the reason for this deployment but another question comes to mind: Are these tanks for the terrorists in Syria?

Turkey's Role in the Kidnapping April 2013 of the two Syrian Bishops.

Turkey's Role in the Kidnapping April 2013 of the two Syrian Bishops.HT: Aina.

On April 22, 2013 Bishops Yuhanna Ibrahim and Paul Yazici were kidnapped in Syria. During the kidnapping their driver was murdered. A fourth person in the car, Fuad Eliya, was released. 

Bishop Yuhanna Ibrahim is of the Syriac Orthodox Church and was considered the strongest candidate to succeed the current Patriarch. Bishop Paul Yazici is of the Greek Orthodox Church, he is the brother of the current patriarch.

The Bishops left the Turkish border on April 22, heading towards Aleppo. In the silver coloured Kia Sorrento was also Fuad Eliya and Bishop Ibrahim's driver, Fathallah Kabud. Bishop Paul Yazici was on his way home to Aleppo after an overseas trip.

To get home safely to Syria he asked Bishop Ibrahim to pick him up at the Bab El-Hawa border crossing. 20 kilometers from the border crossing the car stopped at a checkpoint controlled by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and passed without incident. About two kilometers from this checkpoint, at 3:45 PM, the car was stopped by eight heavily armed men.

According to Fuad Eliya, the only survivor of the kidnapping, the perpetrators were not Syrians, but seemed to be people who came from Caucasus. Their clothes were similar to Taliban attire. One of the kidnappers forced the driver out of the car and put himself behind the wheel, another armed man sat in the backseat of the car, and they drove behind the kidnappers' blue truck. The cars changed direction and drove back to Bab El-Hawa. This is where the Bishops were last seen.

The Chaos In Syria And Turkey's Role In The Conflict

Since the war broke out in Syria, Turkey has played an active role in the conflict. The Syrian opposition's headquarters are in Istanbul. The Free Syrian Army runs its operations virtually from refugee camps in Turkey that are placed along the Syrian border. Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have supported and financed the Syrian opposition, helping with logistics and weapons. But Turkey has played an ever more active role and has successively increased weapons deliveries to the opposition. Even the more radical groups, such as Al-Nusra and many more which are associated with Al-Qaeda, have received weapons from Turkey. The chaos in Syria has attracted jihadist groups from many countries in the region. The 900 kilometer border between Turkey and Syria has becpme a gateway to Syria for jihadist groups.
Russia has supported the regime in the Syrian civil war. Russia's support has evoked reactions from Muslims in the Caucasus region, which have been drawn to the Jihad in Syria. Jihadists from the Caucasus have two reasons to engage in the "holy war" in Syria, to help their Sunni co-religionists and to exact revenge on Russia, which according to the jihadists has been oppressing them in the Caucasus. But these jihadist groups have rarely participated in any real battles, instead they prefer to amuse themselves by plundering and murdering innocent civilians. Often they commit war crimes and crimes against humanity. This propaganda video is one of many examples showing how brutally these terrorists act. Those who watch the video can see that these terrorists are from the Russian Caucasus. The "holy war" -- Jihad -- has united many extremists from Chechnya, Dagestan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, the Balkans and many other Muslim countries. They have been able to move inside Turkey unhindered, along the Syrian border.

It has been generally known that Turkey has helped these extremists with weapon and logistics. But in the last few months Turkey has been caught red-handed several times. Turkish media that slipped past Turkish state censorship reported the following:

• A truck loaded with armour-piercing rockets was stopped outside Adana, close to the Syrian border. It was heading to the rebels in Syria but was stopped at the police check point.
• In early January, 2014 a police roadblock stopped a truck headed to Syria. The police began searching the truck but were stopped by the Turkish secret service, MIT, who escorted the truck to Syria. According to the Turkish ministry of interior, the cargo consisted of clothes, medicine and other emergency care for Turkmens in Syria. But the question is why a load of "emergency care" was being escorted by Turkish secret agents, which report directly to Prime Minister Erdogan. A couple of days later the Turkmens organizations denied that they had received any emergency care from Turkey.

As a result of Turkey's involvement and to the active support for the extremist groups, eleven Syrian civil opposition organizations decided to take Turkey to the court for Human Rights in Europe.

The Caucasus "Holy War" in Syria

The extremist group which consists of many different ethnicities from the Caucasus was founded in 2006 under the name "Caucasus Emirate" during the Chechen war against Russia. This Caucasian mobilization is now also in Syria. The terrorists from the Caucasus excel in their brutality. Abu Omar the Chechen, who founded the Hattab brigade very quickly made a name for himself. Several small groups that came from the Caucasus announced their allegiance to Abu Omar the Chechen. In Syria these groups were called the "Turkish Brothers." The Caucasus Emirate has at various times been allied with the Free Syrian Army and Al Qaeda. Lately the group has joined the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Jihadist groups which are terrorising the population of Syria along the Turkish border are well known to Turkey. These jihadists are provided with weapons and communications equipment such as walky-talkies by the Turkish secret service MIT.

One of these jihadist groups is lead by Abu Amer el-Kuwaiti, who controls his operations in the Aleppo area from the Turkish border city of Antakya. Abu Amer el-Kuwaiti is assisted by a person from Dagestan by the name of Magomed Abdurrakhmanov, who uses the code name Abu Banat (in Turkish Ebu Benat). It is this person who is suspected of kidnapping the Bishops. We will return to this shortly.

During the summer of 2013 a video clip appeared on YouTube showing a person brutally cutting off the heads of three men. People in the video, including the killer, speak Russian. You can also hear a Turkish voice that says "sit down, sit down" so that there is a clear view of the slaughter. 

The person who is performing the decapitation in the video is Magomed Abdulrakhmanov, a.k.a. Abu Banat. The brutal slaughter drew the ire of many in many different parts of the world. When these horrible pictures appeared in the media there was speculation about who this man is. Information about Abu Banat's real identity appeared on several Russian websites and forums (here and here). When his identity was disclosed it was learned that he was a police officer in Dagestan who had found his way to Jihad in Syria.

In the beginning of 2013 Abu Banat's group established itself close to the village El-Meshed, which is only five kilometers away from the border crossing at Bab El-Hawa. He married a woman from the village of El-Meshed. Abu Banat wanted to show his authority through brutality. He terrorized the villagers and murdered a villager to set an example. He instituted harsh Sharia laws, such as those who smoke would lose a finger and those who drink alcohol will be punished. News of about Abu Banat's brutality spread. His group engaged in raids and terrorized the surrounding areas.

The group's activities drew attention and rumors started to circulate about a "fantasy camp" with lots of weapons, money, valuables and jihadists who played video games on PlayStations. News of the group's raids and brutality reached the Free Syrian Army, which sent a group of soldiers to investigate. The FSA claims the group never participated in the war against the Syrian regime but devoted itself exclusively to looting. A battle occured between the FSA and Abu Banat's group which resulted in the dissolution of the group.

Abu Banat Is Detained In Istanbul

On April 23, 2013 the police stopped a car outside the city of Konya. In the car they found a Syrian woman and three other persons of Chechen origin. All were missing valid ID documents. The Turkish magazine Radikal reported this event with the headline Orthodox Bishops' murderer arrested in Konya. The magazine also wrote that because these persons did not have valid ID documents they were deported to their home countries.

But that was not so. The police released all of them after they received a residential address in a suburb of Istanbul where the group lives.

With the memory of the brutal decapitation video fresh in his mind, one of the police officers recognized one of the persons in the car. He reported to the police in Istanbul about his suspicions of the group. A local magazine in Konya intercepted the police report and the news spread throughout Turkey. Several magazines wrote that the Bishops' murderer had been arrested in Konya. When the police searched the house at the given address they found weapons and grenades. The group was arrested for violation of the Arms Act and preparation for terrorist attacks. The group has been in police custody since the summer of 2013, in the Maltepe prison in Istanbul.

When the news about the group that was suspected of kidnapping of the Bishops spread, the authorities stated the group had been deported. Why was this stated when in reality the persons where in police custody in Istanbul? The answer was discovered after access to the police investigation report was gained. According to the report, Abu Banat is known to the Turkish secret service MIT, who have supplied him with equipment.

The Turkish Government's Handling of the Events

When the news about the arrest of the suspected murderer of the Bishops spread in Turkey, Bishop Yusuf Cetin of the Syriac Orthodox Church contacted the Turkish government. Secretary of State Ahmet Davutoglu had on several occasions commented on the kidnapping case.

 In a meeting with Syriac Orthodox Church Bishops, Davutoglu said that he had received intelligence reports that the Bishops were still alive and that Turkey is doing everything to save them. Secretary of State Davutoglu had given the impression that they have knowledge of who the kidnappers are. Prime Minister Erdogan also made similar statements when he visited Stockholm and met Assyrian representatives in the beginning of November, 2013. 

As late as last Christmas the former Turkish attorney general Sadullah Ergin said to the Greek Orthodox Church in Hatay the government was working on saving the Bishops. These and many other statements were been given by Turkish officials despite the fact that the Bishops' suspected murderer was in police custody in Istanbul. 

All indications point to the fact that Turkey had a hand in the Bishops' kidnapping and has therefore done everything to hide the truth about the suspected murderer.

On September 29th, 2013 investigative journalist Erkan Metin published a long article on www.suryaniler.com. During his investigation, Mr. Metin discovered that Abu Banat's is Magomed Abdurkhmanov from Dagestan and that he might be in custody. Mr. Metin contacted the police and confirmed that they were holding a person named Magomed Abdurakhmanov -- contrary to press and government reports that he and his group had been deported. Abu Banat's group was in police custody at the Meltepe prison in Istanbul.

Upon further investigation Mr. Metin discovered a link between Abu Banat's group and the kidnapping of the Bishops.

A website (www.kavakazcenter.com) that belongs to the "Caucasus Emirate" featured on July 3, 2013 the headline Russian footsteps in Syria, and claimed that it was the group led by Abu Banat that was behind the kidnapping of the Bishops. The website also stated that Abu Banat is a Russian agent. The website said that according to its sources in Syria, the Bishops had been killed by an explosive belt strapped to their backs (this method is often used by the Taliban in Afghanistan).

But why would Abu Banat, who is a member of the Caucasus Emirate, be disavowed by being identified as a Russian agent?

According to Erkan Metin, the video of the decapitation on YouTube was the breaking point. The Caucasus Emirate wanted to distance itself from a group that had drawn negative attention to itself. This was also confirmed by the Turkish police interrogation of Abu Banat about the decapitation. According to the transcript of the hearing, which was published officially in December 2013, Abu Banat said the following:

It was I who decapitated these three persons. It was the first time I had decapitated a human. But I don't understand why these came up on the Internet. It was something we did every Friday after we sentenced people in the Sharia court. I executed the punishment by decapitation.

When the report of the investigation of Abu Banat's group was released publicly the results of of Erkan Metin's investigation were corroborated -- that the group was responsible for the kidnapping of the Bishops. The following are key findings from the report:

• The police made a superficial hearing and avoided going deeper into the events. No questions were asked about the kidnapping of the Bishops.
• Abu Banat confessed that is was he who decapitated the persons the YouTube video.
• Abu Banat said that he had received walkie-talkies from a person by the name Abu-Cahfer from the Turkish secret service.
• Abu Banat and his companion were injured, probably in the battle with the FSA, and fled from Syria.
• Secret documents which were published during the investigation showed that on April 26th 2013, four days after the kidnapping of the Bishops, the Turkish secret service MIT wrote a report to the state department in Ankara. In this report it described how the Bishops had been taken and moved between different locations before they were finally brought to the village Mashad Ruhin (also called el-Meshad) outside Aleppo. This information tied Abu Banat to the kidnapping of the Bishops. Since his group was using Turkish walkie-talkies, the Turkish secret service MIT monitored the conversations and mapped their activities and movements carefully.
• Abu Banat acknowledged that he had committed both war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ministry of justice refused to file charges on the grounds that this was a Syrian matter.

Questions to Prime Minister Erdogan

Erol Dora, an Assyrian member of the Turkish Parliament, submitted a written question to Prime Minister Erdogan about Turkey's involvement in the kidnapping of the Bishops and the country's relationship to the suspected killer. Erol Dora also asked the justice minister Bekir Bozdag why the ministry refused to try a person who had admitted that he decapitated people in Syria. According to Erol Dora, who is a lawyer, the Turkish constitution says such crimes do not necessarily have to occur in Turkey for the perpetrator to be tried.

Conclusions

Turkey is supporting the Syrian opposition, allowing jihadist to pass through its territory to Syria. Evidence strongly indicates that Turkey knew about the jihadist group lead by Abu Banat, and this group had kidnapped the Bishops. The Turkish secret service, MIT, were in contact with this group and supplied the group with equipment.

The following are interviews with investigative journalist Erkan Metin: Turkish, Assyrian.
Dikran Ego is freelance Journalist living in Sweden; he regularly writes on Assyrian matters and is editor at Assyria TV.