Press TV has conducted an interview with Zayd al-Isa, Middle East expert from London, about a newly-released footage and confessions by militants showing that Turkey remains the main route for ISIL terrorists to enter Iraq and Syria.
Press TV: Tell us about Turkey’s role in all of this. On the one hand we see from this latest Iraqi footage with these terrorists basically that they are saying they cross over into the country, originally their trip or their recruitment started in Turkey. How do you see Turkey’s role in all of this?
Al-Isa: Well what is indisputable and incontestable is the major if not the pivotal and crucial role played by Turkey in order to act as main entry point or actually we could call it a lifeline for the most extreme groups in Syria that is Jabhat al-Nusra and also the ISIS group.
Without those resources and lifeline I do not think that those two groups would have been able to turn into the most aggressive and potent army. It is basically the congruent for all the arming, financing, logistical support and even salaries paid by Saudi Arabia and all those mercenaries, Wahhabi, Salafi mercenaries who basically converged on Syria using the route of Turkey and with full knowledge of the Turkish authorities that that basically is going to continue because we have seen that Turkey has adamantly refused as they claim to take part in the so-called broad-based coalition which by the way includes the main and the principle countries that armed, financed, provided the logistical support and also which bear the same ideology which is the Wahhabi Salafi ideology which is propagated, exported and supported by the very Saudi government and which is based, the ideology Wahhabi Salafi, the establishment, the principle is based in Saudi Arabia. So it is highly hypocritical.
Press TV: So let me just jump in here with just something you have just said Mr. al-Isa. On the one hand you talked about Turkey as for supporting these terrorists, on the other hand you just mentioned that they have refused to join in this so-called coalition against this terrorist group.
Why do you think that is the case? Why has well according to appearances Ankara refused Washington’s request?
Al-Isa: That basically shows and sheds enough light that the Americans are actually not serious in that pursuit of taking apart of what they call degrading fully the capability of ISIS.
ISIS has served them well. It has enabled them to regain their influence that they lost in Iraq completely after they were forced to leave Iraq and that is what Obama said on the 18th of June that al-Maliki refused to give us or grant us immunity from prosecution.
It has helped Americans to form what they call a more inclusive broad-based government that is giving more influence and revolting those parties that have actually turned their areas into sanctuaries and safe havens for al-Qaeda in Iraq and also teaching Iraqi politicians that is mainly the Shias that if they choose or if they simply defy the US orders then they should pay a heavy price by losing their jobs and by simply regaining the Saudi influence.
And we have seen the Saudis scramble after Martin Dempsey said that it is not possible to defeat ISIS without targeting in Syria that the Americans scrambled to say that we are not going to target ISIS in order to strengthen the Syrian regime because it is an integral part of the Saudis strategy to topple the Assad regime.