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| The Grand Turk |
| Syrian rebels:Turkey tipped off al Nusra about US-trained fighters |
| 2015-08-27 |
| Last month al Nusra captured elements of the first group of fighters trained by the United States’ train-and-equip program, including the leader, as soon as they entered Syria. Rebel sources claim it was Turkey that tipped off al Nusra, though the US denies such charges while Ankara remains silent. “Only the Americans and the Turks knew about the plans for the train-and-equip fighters to enter Syria,” an unnamed officer of Division 30, the rebel group the captured unit was supposed to join, told American news service McClatchy DC. McClatchy DC published a detailed report on Monday where several high-level Syrian rebels suggested it was Turkey that had tipped off al Nusra, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, of 54 newly-trained rebels that had completed the United States’ train-and-equip program. Among those abducted was Division 30 commander Colonel Nadim Hassan. “We have sources who tell us the Turks warned Nusra that they would be targeted by this group,” the unnamed officer added. He noted that al Nusra still holds 22 of his comrades hostage in the town of Azaz just south of the Turkish border. “Right now the only thing keeping our men alive is that Turkey does not want them executed – al Qaida always executes Arabs who work for the CIA.” Captain Ammar al Wawi, spokesman for Division 30, refused to say Turkey had betrayed the operation, though he agreed that only Turkey and the United States were aware of the details of the plan to enter Syria. He refused to comment more when pressed further, “I have to live here in Turkey and have been targeted for kidnapping or assassination twice in the last month. But, we know someone aligned with Nusra informed them of our presence. They were taken within just 10 minutes [of entering Syria].” Another rebel commander said he wasn’t surprised al Nusra targeted US-trained fighters. “There’s no ideological difference between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Nusra Front, just a political fight for control… Remember, America has targeted Nusra with some airstrikes.” He added that, while there was some limited cooperation between some rebel groups and the Islamist factions, Turkey was aware that the cooperation was likely to end at some point. “They don’t want anything bad to happen to their allies – Nusra and Ahrar ash-Sham – along the border, and they know that both the Americans and the Syrian people will eventually recognize that there’s no difference between groups like Nusra, Ahrar and ISIL.” Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) spokesman Mustafa Abdi similarly claimed that Turkey had leaked the arrival of the US-trained fighters, adding that this was a ploy to manipulate America to more closely operate with the groups Ankara considers its allies in Syria. Turkish support for “the Salafi-Jihadi-Islamist coalition in the north is clear,” said Aymenn al Tamimi, an expert on regional Jihadi groups at the US-based Middle East Forum. Noting that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) espoused similarly Islamist goals, “Erdogan and his allies would ideologically be sympathetic to Islamist groups.” The United States and Turkey have frequently been at odds over Turkey’s willingness to work with al Nusra, which the US officially declared a terrorist organization nearly three years ago. Turkey claims such a designation ignores that the group is the most effective faction fighting the Assad government. Jihadi expert Tamimi agrees, “There’s a case to be made they are the most effective forces in the north.” Additionally, Turkey has criticized America’s train-and-equip program for focusing too much on ISIL and not enough of toppling the Assad regime. However, despite the rebel’s claims, Washington denied that there was any indication that Turkey had betrayed the US-trained fighters to al Nusra. “There are no indications that Turkish officials alerted the Nusra Front to the movements,” Pentagon Spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis told McClatchy DC in an email. “Turkey is a NATO ally, close friend of the United States and an important partner in the international coalition against ISIL.” Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one senior official at the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment, saying any discussion of Turkey’s relationship with Nusra was off limits. Other Turkish officials speaking off the record acknowledged the likely accuracy of the claim that Turkey leaked the information to Nusra. One official even said the plans were leaked to Nusra hoping to lead to the disintegration of the program, thus pressuring the US to train rebel groups dedicated to fighting the Assad regime instead of ISIL. |
| Posted by:Pappy |
| #4 One could say that about all the nations in the Middle East, ed. and our own administration too. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2015-08-27 11:29 |
| #3 One could say that about all the nations in the Middle East, ed. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2015-08-27 10:59 |
| #2 For those who read this and think "Whose side are they ON?", the answer is not ours. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2015-08-27 09:26 |
| #1 our "ally", Turkey |
| Posted by: Frank G 2015-08-27 08:48 |