Islamic State terrorists wounded on the Syrian battlefield regularly travel to Turkey for complex and costly medical treatment, according to tapped phone calls apparently ignored by Ankara’s security forces, and handed to the media by opposition MP Erem Erdem.
Transcripts of phone recordings that were obtained by international media conversations with Ilhami Bali, a ‘prominent’ figure within Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terror group, who has a US€1.3 million bounty on his head, shed additional light on the lucrative business of medical treatments apparently offered by Turkish medical facilities to jihadist fighters.
According to the information previously made public by Erdem, IS militants and their families regularly get escorted back and forth through the Syrian-Turkish border with the help of local middlemen and a lack of counter-measures from authorities.
While Ankara staunchly denies offering any safe havens for wounded IS members, or any links with the terror group whatsoever, several phone taps point to the contrary, echoing numerous earlier reports of the terror group’s cozy ties with Turkey.
Some of those who are returning from Syria are often in need of urgent medical assistance, according to intercepted conversations. If everything goes smoothly and the smugglers are not detained by Turkish authorities, the wounded militants get expensive, board and undergo complicated medical procedures which sometimes amounts to thousands of dollars, while the bills are then taken care of by Islamic State.
Medical billing discussions took place between Bali and two men, one of whom is named Savas, who is allegedly responsible for arranging medical care in one of Turkish hospitals, and another unnamed man, who allegedly arranges payment to be made to medical facilities.
In one phone conversation between Bali and Savas it is revealed that a number of IS fighters have successfully made it to Turkey. All of them were operated on, but one man in particular required an expensive surgery following a delayed leg amputation.
“Yes they came. They were operated,” Savas replied to Bali’s question of whether or not more “sick people” made it to the hospital following their previous conversation. Savas then explains that a complex operation for “Muhammad Emine” and his care in the hospital propelled the costs to $32,000, and that a detailed invoice of all the medical procedures was on its way to Bali.
Source: RT