Chilling Video Shows NATO Member State Greeting and Providing Refuge to ISIS Militants

By Jay Syrmopoulos

A video that seemingly bolsters Russian claims of Turkish government complicity with the Islamic State, highlights the casual relations between the terror group and Turkish officials.

Turkey has been accused of being one of the main benefactors of the ISIS terror group, accused of providing logistics, financing and military hardware. These accusations are particularly startling as Turkey is a member of NATO, a collective security group obligated to go to war if a member state is attacked. It would be a seemingly dangerous proposition to allow a state that basically props up the Islamic State, which then uses the group as a geopolitical weapon, to be in such a strategically important group.

The amateur footage reportedly shows ISIS militants and Turkish border guards holding a relaxed conversation near the Syrian city of Kobane, according to the Daily Mail. The amateur footage, taken near Zarova Hill on the outskirts of Kobane, was uploaded to YouTube on October 28, 2014.

According to the report in the Daily Mail:

It appears to show two heavily armed militants wandering nonchalantly up to the Turkish border fence – displaying shocking bravado as they smile and wave at the camera.

They are met by what appears to be a military vehicle full of security officials who, despite carrying weapons themselves, do little more than break into conversation with the jihadis, who eventually wander off back into Syria while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’…

The clip begins with the two apparent jihadists lighting fires near a group of cars, which are believed to have been abandoned by desperate Kurdish families who fled Kobane in recent weeks when ISIS militants stepped up their attacks on the city.

After appearing to realise they are being filmed from inside Turkey, the pair start walking towards the border fence, stopping only to mockingly wave at the amateur filmmaker.

As they reach the border fence, an armoured military vehicle belonging to Turkish border guards speeds up to meet them. Heavily armed officials jump out the back of the car and – after briefly talking on their radios, simply engage the men in conversation.

At one point the situation appears tense and a border guard scampers towards the militants with his gun briefly raised, but he stops seconds later and also begins talking to the men.

After several minutes chatting, the militants wander off, defiantly raising their index finger to the sky to represent jihadism while chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ – a phrase that translates as ‘God is the greatest’.

The Turkish government has repeatedly been accused of being one of the largest state sponsors of the Islamic State.

International security expert, Dr. Nafeez Ahmed, has repeatedly documented the fact that Turkey acts as a state sponsor of ISIS.

According to a report in Insurge Intelligence by Dr. Ahmed:

Earlier this year, the Turkish daily Meydan reported citing an Uighur source that more than 100,000 fake Turkish passports had been given to ISIS…

A senior Western official familiar with a large cache of intelligence obtained this summer from a major raid on an ISIS safehouse told the Guardian that “direct dealings between Turkish officials and ranking ISIS members was now ‘undeniable.’” The same official confirmed that Turkey, a longstanding member of NATO, is not just supporting ISIS, but also other jihadist groups, including Ahrar al-Sham and Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria…

Turkey has also played a key role in facilitating the life-blood of ISIS’ expansion: black market oil sales. Senior political and intelligence sources in Turkey and Iraq confirm that Turkish authorities have actively facilitated ISIS oil sales through the country…

Last summer, Mehmet Ali Ediboglu, an MP from the main opposition, the Republican People’s Party, estimated the quantity of ISIS oil sales in Turkey at about $800 million — that was over a year ago.

By now, this implies that Turkey has facilitated over $1 billion worth of black market ISIS oil sales to date.

Turkey is a neo-Islamist regime bent on taking out the Assad government in Syria through the use of terrorist proxies and is working to defend their terrorist allies in Syria.

After the downing of the Russian fighter jet, Russian President Vladimir Putin very succinctly laid out what has been taking place, placing blame directly on the Turkish government for the continued growth of the Islamic State.

“We have long been recording the movement of a large amount of oil and petroleum products to Turkey from Isis-occupied territories. This explains the significant funding the terrorists are receiving. Now they are stabbing us in the back by hitting our planes that are fighting terrorism. This is happening despite the agreement we have signed with our American partners to prevent air incidents, and, as you know, Turkey is among those who are supposed to be fighting terrorism within the American coalition…

If Isis is making so much money – we are talking about tens or maybe even hundreds of millions, possibly billions of dollars – in oil trade and they are supported by the armed forces of an entire state, it is clear why they are being so daring and impudent, why they are killing people in such gruesome ways, why they are committing terrorist attacks all over the world, including in the heart of Europe,” Putin said.

The fact that NATO continues to allow membership by Turkey, after their blatant support of the Islamic State, should raise serious questions as to who we call our “allies.”

If the U.S. truly wants to stop the Islamic State then it would seem logical to call Turkey out for its immense and continued state support of ISIS/Daesh.

The fact remains that Turkey is one of the biggest supporters of global terrorism and a member of NATO.

Will the Western world really allow itself be dragged into a potential global war due to an alliance with the Turkish government who refuses to cease their support for the Islamic State?

Jay Syrmopoulos writes for TheFreeThoughtProject.com