WikiLeaks confirms what Russian government sources have been saying for months: Erdogan has shady business ties to ISIS oil smugglers in Syria. "Fake news" strikes again!
This post first appeared on Russia Insider
For more than a year now — time flies when you're writing "fake news"! — Russia Insider and other FSB fronts have been detailing ties between Erdogan and ISIS.
Just a few examples from the past year:
- Meet The Man Who Funds ISIS: Bilal Erdogan, The Son Of Turkey's President
- Time to Resign? Evidence Mounts of Erdogan's Involvement in ISIS Oil Smuggling
- Turkey and ISIS - Like Peas in a Pod
- Turkey Admits to Aiding Al Qaeda and ISIS
- Video Shows ISIS Militants Having Friendly Chat With Turkish Border Guards
And now a new WikiLeaks email dump has exposed the business dealings of Berat Albayrak, Erdogan's son-in-law and Turkey's Minister of Energy. What kind of "business" are we talking about? You know:
The emails detail Albayrak’s involvement in organisations such as Powertrans, the company implicated in ISIS oil imports. On 11 November 2011, the Erdoğan government passed a bill prohibiting all import, export, or transfer of oil or its by-products into or out of Turkey. But the bill also stated that the government could revoke the ban in specific cases. This exception was used to grant Powertrans the sole rights to oil transportation without holding a public tender. There have been numerous allegations in the Turkish media about Powertrans' imports of ISIS-controlled oil to Turkey. Albayrak has repeatedly denied his connection to Powertrans, but the emails prove the opposite.
In one email, Albayrak discusses with his lawyer publicly denying any connection with Powertrans. The lawyer proposes a statement saying “my client no longer has ties with Powertrans…”. Albayrak “corrects” him, saying “what do you mean no longer? I never had ties with this company!” . However, throughout the archive it is clear that Albayrak started being involved in Powertrans in 2012, coinciding with the government's decision to give Powertrans the rights of oil transportation. The archive contains almost 30 emails exchanged between Albayrak and Betul Yilmaz, the human resources manager of Çalık Holding, a conglomerate of which Albayrak was Chief Executive Officer. Yilmaz seeks approval from Albayrak regarding Powertrans personnel decisions, such as who to hire , and approval of Powertrans salaries .
We should acknowledge of course that this new leak does not include flirtatious Tinder messages between Erdogan and ISIS. But what do you expect? You always have underlings do the dirty work for you. And this is exactly what is revealed in this latest WikiLeaks dump.
For the record, a year ago the Russian Defense Ministry called out Erdogan and his ties to ISIS oil smuggling. The Russians also repeatedly expressed frustration over the fact that Washington's "anti-terror" coalition allowed ISIS oil smugglers to move freely around Syria. There are even reports that American pilots were ordered to ignore ISIS oil convoys.
If the west and its allies are truly committed to fighting terrorism, surely they would be interested in destroying ISIS' major cash cow.
Instead, they're profiting from it. Surprise!
This post first appeared on Russia Insider
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