The big news story from Germany in recent days was the revelation by the government that Turkey was a major sponsor of Middle Eastern terrorist groups, including the Islamic State and Hamas. This is something that everyone already knew, but it had never been so publicly admitted. The Erdogan family oil business has profited from black market ISIS oil, and President Erdogan found it expedient to support and supply the Islamic State in order to further his own political ends in the region.
The public admission of Turkey’s complicity in Islamic terrorism was the result of an intramural war within the German government. The current government is a coalition between the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Socialist Democrats (SPD), two parties that are not all that fond of each other. The Interior Ministry is headed by a CDU apparatchik, while the SPD runs the Foreign Ministry. A feud between the two parties led to the revelation by the Interior Ministry, which was presumably intended to damage the SPD.
Many thanks to Egri Nök for translating this video report, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:
Transcript:
| 00:00 | The Armenia resolution in Parliament – not a good day for German-Turkish relations. | |
| 00:06 | Erdogan arrests opposition members and journalists – not the best day either. | |
| 00:10 | He strained relations – | |
| 00:13 | and the ban on visitors for German soldiers in Incirlik did so, too. | |
| 00:16 | Enough problems, and these contents will not contribute to easing the tensions: | |
| 00:22 | The Interior Ministry’s answer to an inquiry by the Left, which reads, | |
| 00:27 | ”Since 2011, Turkey has emerged as the central platform for action | |
| 00:31 | for Islamist groups of the region Near and Middle East.” | |
| 00:36 | The rationale holds against Erdogan personally, but also against his AKP, | |
| 00:40 | intense contacts among others to the radical-Islamic Hamas. | |
| 00:45 | So the Federal Government is accusing Turkey of supporting a terrorist organization. | |
| 00:49 | [this speaker: Sevim Dagdelen, The Left] We need a radical turnaround in the politics towards Turkey. It cannot be | |
| 00:53 | that on the one hand you treat Erdogan as a premium partner, | |
| 00:57 | but at the same time, warn of him as a sponsor of terror. | |
| 01:00 | Within the government, the event provides fuel for conflict. | |
| 01:04 | The Interior Ministry under the Christian Democrats authored the explosive answer, | |
| 01:07 | without asking the Foreign Ministry under the Social Democrats for the official language regime. | |
| 01:13 | [this speaker: Rolf Mützenich, parliamentary party leader Social Democrats] As the accusations are grave, and could possibly | |
| 01:17 | put a lasting strain on relations to Turkey, thus I would have wished for a cooperation. | |
| 01:23 | The Interior Ministry meanwhile speaks of a “slip in the office”, and yes, the | |
| 01:27 | Foreign Ministry would probably not have issued such clear words. | |
| 01:30 | Actually, words about this are sparse until now. Neither by the Federal Government, | |
| 01:34 | nor from Turkey or Erdogan. Maybe he is just waiting for his next | |
| 01:38 | meeting with the chancellor. They will meet in two weeks at the G 20 summit. |
“Is Turkey a Premium Partner or a Sponsor of Terror?”
“Alex, I’ll wager a hundred billion, trillion, quadrillion, that the answer is Sponsor of Terror.”
I’ll bet you a Corrvette:
“Sponsor of Terror”
Edogan’s actions after the recent farcical coup speaks volumes (38,000 arrests and still counting) so I would suggest the answer is fairly obvious!
Totally ruthless, why the west and particularly the USA keep cosying up to him is a mystery to me?
Just look at mutti Merkel – talk about a rabbit in the headlights!
And when Turkey decided to fight against the IS but bombed the PKK/Kurds instead, everyone went whoops!
It took the Russians to bomb the oil trucks… I wonder why?
Russkies and Persians vs ISIS and NATO.
Why do I feel like I’m on the wrong side here.
You’re not on the wrong side. You live in occupied territory, and you need to defeat and drive out the invaders that have taken over your [my] country.
They were Erdogans’ trucks.