Erdogan's ISIS 'brothers'

Whenever I write about the intrinsic relationship between the Turkish government and al-Qaeda inspired groups, I'm subject to a smear campaign by Erdoğan's thugs.

Some of them are naive enough to believe that Erdoğan would not go that far. Now here is a case for those who don't want to believe that Erdoğan supports the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) -- an organization that even al-Qaeda itself listed as a terrorist group for its excessive violence.

In previous articles, I made clear how Erdoğan's government fostered al-Qaeda-linked or inspired groups in Syria and how they turned out to be a threat for both Iraq and Turkish interests. Although ISIS militants have been holding dozens of Turkish citizens for more than a month now, Erdoğan still avoids calling these militants terrorists. Today, he even called them brothers:

"A Muslim would not do this cruelty to another Muslim brother," Erdoğan said during an iftar dinner. Wait a minute, what? Who is whose brother? The throat-slitting savages who are holding your citizens for weeks are your Muslim brothers? Is that how you define the terrorists against whom the world is united to root out?

He continued begging to the group to release the Turkish citizens:

"I call here on the ISIS organization. We want you to release our citizens, consular officers... there are women and children. They need to do this. I'm particularly reminding them of this. I reminded them this afternoon and I'm reminding them of it here again," Erdoğan, who is often called by his supporters "leader of the world," said.

Some of you might think that there are delicate negotiations going on behind the scenes through back channels and that sharpening the tone taken against the organization could imperil the lives of the Turkish citizens.

Fair enough.

But shouldn't Erdoğan just assure people that negotiations are under way and avoid begging terrorists publicly? Is publicly asking the release of Turkish citizens part of those "back-channel negotiations?"

Supporters of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) are the last people to raise the issue of sensitivity when it comes to foreign policy-making. We saw how reckless the Turkish government and its supporters could be only last year, in Egypt, when Erdoğan's empty talk encouraged the helpless Muslim Brotherhood members to resist against Egypt's ruthless military and eventually got them killed. They could have acted in a much smarter way, but blindly resisting against the killing machine that has no concern for human lives led to tragic death and destruction.

Shouldn't the AK Party be more sensitive when it comes to innocent men and women in Egypt? Does the blood of Egyptians really matter or was it a just good time for Erdoğan to exploit their tragedy?




Credit to Todayszaman.com