Alwaght | News & Analysis Website

Alwaght- On Friday, a Turkish daily newspaper published photos and video footage showing trucks of the Turkish Intelligence Service transferring weapons to the terrorists groups in Syria.

The Turkish government denied the fact that it is arming terrorist groups in Syria. It has also accused several prosecutors, soldiers, and security officers involved in questing and searching the trucks.

Earlier this month, a Turkish court ordered the arrest of four prosecutors and a former senior commander for halting arms transfer to Takfiri terrorists in Syria by trucks belonging to the Turkish National Intelligence Agency (MIT), in January 2014. They are now imprisoned for pending trial. Ahmet Karaca, one of the prosecutors, said, "I am being detained right now just because I did not listen to Mr. Minister's 'Do not search trucks' order and threats, and did not stop my colleagues from doing so. What more can I say?"

More than thirty officers involved in interception are also facing "charges including military espionage and attempting to overthrow the government."

The video went viral on the Turkish daily newspaper Cumhuriyet on Friday. It shows the inspectors searching a metallic container watched by security officers, a prosecutor, and sniffer dogs.

The newspaper also reported that the trucks were carrying a total of 1,000 mortar shells, 80,000 rounds of ammunitions for light and heavy weapons, as well as, hundreds of grenade launchers. These were layered by cardboard boxes marked as 'fragile' and full of antibiotics.

Earlier, the government claimed that these trucks were carrying "humanitarian aid to Turkemon community in Syria". Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister, called the interception as "treason".

Erdogan tried to link the issue to his top challenger, Fethullah Gülen, a US-based clerk. The former accused Gülen of "running a parallel state", and that the interception of the trucks was completely orchestrated by him and his followers in the judiciary and police with the aim of usurping Erdogan.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of Republican Peoples' Party, the main Turkish opposition, said, "This is extraordinary information. It now appears that those boxes contained weapons. These images are very disturbing for the prestige of Turkey." He added, "Those who legally sent arms to a Muslim country have blood on their hands," accusing Turkey of aiding ISIS.

On the other hand, Human Rights Watch said that the event exposed "marked dimensions to Turkey's involvement with the conflict in Syria and the Turkish government's concern to prevent any legal scrutiny of Turkish intelligence operations."

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently visited Saudi Arabia. He met with Saudi senior officials in order to "jointly supply the terrorist groups in Syrian province of Idlib with arms and funds."

Syrian sources declared that a command room was established in Turkey in order "to lead the terrorist attack against the Syrian army." The sources also confirmed that Saudi Arabia "purchases satellite photos for the benefit of the room itself."

These reports were confirmed by battlefield sources, where Turkey is providing terrorists with Internet supply during battles, connecting them directly to the command room, which gives them the necessary data.

The Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said the terrorist groups are being trained and equipped in the Turkish city of Kirsehir under a joint American-Turkish program. He commented, "They have to be supported via air. If you do not protect them or provide air support, what is the point?" "There is a principle agreement on providing air support. How it is going to be provided is in the responsibility of the [Turkish] army."

In the same context, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Faysal Al-Mukdad, responded to the remarks by Cavusoglu, in an interview with Al-Mayadeen Television Channel. He said, "The remarks made by the Foreign Minister of Erdogan's regime again uncover the Turkish intention to provide direct support for the terrorist organizations in Syria by funding and arming them."

Al-Mukdad stressed that Turkey intends to prolong the conflict leads to the murder of more innocent people and further havoc in Syria.

Moreover, Danny Makki, a West Asia specialist said that Turkey believes that the West Asia region is still an 'Ottoman Empire', which it can abuse freely, but some Arab states – Syria and Iraq – are against such ambitions. He argued that Turkey is "sowing the seed of anarchy in the West Asia" through its support for the terrorist groups, including ISIS and Al-Nusra Front". Makki added that Turkish government's claim on supporting so-called moderate groups in Syria is 'rubbish', because "there is no moderate militant in the war-stricken neighboring country."

Ahmad Haj Ali, a prominent political analyst told Iran-based Fars News Agency that Erdogan has augmented his support of the terrorist groups in Syria as a result of a "confused policy at home and abroad."

Haj Ali said, "The Erdogan regime, faced with criticism of the opposition and the West, seeks to attract the US support and come out of his perplexity by increasing support for the terrorist groups in Syria and aerial support for them."

Haj Ali added that the "Turkish government is under global pressures and criticism for the administrative corruption and suppression of the opposition." It is Erdogan's way of seeking a way out of this crisis.