Court transcript exposes Turkey-Qatar sponsorship of extremists in Syria

CAIRO – 5 August 2020: Another scandal adding to the Turkish pile got exposed as the true reason behind the murder of Turkish Brigadier General Semih Terzi, allegedly one of the key leaders of a 2016 failed coup in Turkey, was revealed.

The courtroom transcript availed by the Nordic Monitor website has unfolded that Terzi was shot on the direct orders of Lt. Gen. Zekai Aksakalli, the then head of Turkey’s Special Forces Command.

The court document containing the testimony of Col. Firat Alakus, who was also part of the intelligence section of the Special Forces Command, revealed that the Terzi found out about the illegal transfer of Qatari funds to jihadists in Syria.

Turkish Brigadier General Semih Terzi

Alakus testified at a hearing at the 17^th High Criminal Court in Ankara in March, 2019, that this aimed at strengthening Turkish stand and worsen the Syrian conflict.

Alakus further added that Terzi got to know that Aksakalli was part of the secret mission, led by the Turkish intelligence agency (MIT), which ran illegal operations in Syria supporting militants in the war-torn country.

Alakus also added that Qatar was one of the players in this entire conspiracy against Syrian regime, while there were other countries too whose funds were also misdirected to support extremists after they were transferred to Turkey, the Arab Post reported.

“Terzi knew how much of the funding delivered to Turkey by Qatar for the purpose of purchasing weapons and ammunition for the opposition was actually used for that and how much of it was actually used by public officials, how much was embezzled,” Alakus said.

 

Terzi was also aware how on the orders of the Turkish government some government officials brought senior members of armed radical and jihadist groups for medical assistance in Turkey under the guise of moderate Free Syrian Army troops and received loads of bribes for their services.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has said that the number of the Turkish-backed Syrian mercenaries in Libya has risen to 15,300 so far.

It added that a batch of fighters has returned to Syria from Libya, in conjunction with a reversal of the process during which fighters from the pro-Ankara factions went towards Libya after receiving training in camps inside Turkey.

Among the total number of recruits there are about 300 children between the ages of 14 and 18, most of them in the “Sultan Murad” division, who were recruited to fight in Libya through a process of financial temptation which exploits their difficult living conditions.