Former ’ISIL’ Member Reveals Turkish Army Cooperation: Newsweek
Local Editor
A former member of so-called "Daesh" ["ISIL"] has revealed the extent to which the cooperation of the Turkish military and border forces allows the terrorist group to travel through Turkish territory to reinforce militants battling Kurdish forces.
Former "ISIL" Member Reveals Turkish Army Cooperation: Newsweek
In a report by Newsweek on Friday, the former "Daesh" communications technician - dubbed "Sherko Omer" in order to conceal his identity - said the extremist group considers Turkey an ally as it continues to battle Kurds in Syrian towns like Kobani.
""ISIL" and Turkey cooperate together on the ground on the basis that they have a common enemy to destroy, the Kurds," he told the magazine.
Omer added that it was easy for "Daesh" militants to make it through Kurdish defenses because the Turks allowed them to take alternate routes back and forth through the Turkish border.
""ISIL" commanders told us to fear nothing at all because there was full cooperation with the Turks," he said, referring to border crossings, "and they reassured us that nothing will happen, especially when that is how they regularly travel from Raqqa and Aleppo to the Kurdish areas further northeast of Syria because it was impossible to travel through Syria as YPG [the National Army of Syrian Kurdistan] controlled most parts of the Kurdish region," he said.
Omer, the son of a successful businessman in Iraqi Kurdistan, initially went to Syria to join the so-called "Free Syrian Army" extremist group against the Syrian government, but found himself sucked in to "ISIL" and unable to leave, according to Newsweek.
He was given a job as a communication technician, and worked at the "ISIL" communications bureau in Raqqa, it added.
"I have connected "ISIL" field captains and commanders from Syria with people in Turkey on innumerable occasions," Omer said.
Omer was then transferred to a battalion travelling to fight Kurdish forces in Serekaniya, north-eastern Syria, and describes travelling through Turkey in a convoy of trucks, staying at safehouses along the way, before crossing back into Syria at the Ceylanpinar border crossing.
Furthermore, Omer explained that during his time with "ISIL", Turkey had been seen as an ally against the Kurds. "..."ISIL" had to be a Turkish ally because only through Turkey they were able to deploy "ISIL" [militants] to northern parts of the Kurdish cities and towns in Syria."
Before crossing the border back into Syria, he said: "My "ISIL" commander reassured us once again that it was all going to be all right because cooperation had been made with the Turks...."
"While we tried to cross the Ceylanpinar border post, the Turkish soldiers' watchtower light spotted us. The commander quickly told us to stay calm, stay in position and not to look at the light. He talked on the radio in Turkish again and we stayed in our positions. Watchtower light then moved about 10 minutes later and the commander ordered us to move because the watchtower light moving away from us was the signal that we could safely cross the border into Serekaniye," he added.
Notably, Omer said he personally brought together "Daesh" commanders inside of Syria and people in Turkey "innumerable" times. The connection is reportedly so strong that the two sides primarily communicate in Turkish, not Arabic.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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