Turkish Military Should Explain Contact With ISIL Militants, Says Politician

Criticizing the Turkish General Staff's explanation regarding video footage depicting Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant's (ISIL) terrorists together with Turkish soldiers at the Syrian border, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Sezgin Tanrıkulu said on Thursday that the General Staff should provide a more satisfactory explanation of the footage, which received wide coverage in the Turkish media.

Following the coverage of the video footage of Turkish soldiers and ISIL terrorists dated Oct. 22, the General Staff stated on Oct. 29 in response to a parliamentary question addressed to Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu that the terrorists were warned about trespassing over the Turkish border. According to Tanrıkulu, given the previous cases in which 19 people were killed when they crossed the border illegally this year, such an explanation does not make sense.

Tanrıkulu says the footage appears to show that the discussion taking place between the soldiers and the ISIL terrorists goes beyond a warning. He noted that it is illegal not to file a complaint against armed people who are caught within the borders of Turkey. Tanrıkulu denied the accusation of the General Staff that the allegations aim to defame it. For Tanrıkulu, if there is anything that would defame the General Staff, it is being in the same photo as members of a terrorist organization that commits atrocities in the Middle East.

Tanrıkulu asked further questions to the General Staff such as why the guns of the ISIL militants are not mentioned in the explanation, who contacted the ISIL militants and what language they were speaking to the Turkish soldiers.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)