The Turkish regime has no scruples about sponsoring terrorists in the Middle East and beyond or detaining journalists for bringing to light Ankara's illicit political manipulations, US independent geopolitical analyst and founder of StopImperialism.org Eric Draitser underscores.
"Turkey has been implicated in a wide variety of crimes (some constituting war crimes) which cast Ankara in a very bad light: a supporter of terrorism, a criminal government engaging in acts of aggression against its neighbors and other world powers, the repression of journalists and others who have brought the truth to the light of day, among many others. Taken in total, it becomes clear that under President Erdogan Turkey has become a belligerent actor with delusions of hegemony and a complete disregard for human rights and sovereignty," Draitser writes in his recent article for New Eastern Outlook.
Draitser calls attention to the fact that it is support for international terrorism that obviously eclipses Ankara's misdeeds. Recep Erdogan's government and intelligence services played a direct role in funding, arming and training the so-called Free Syrian Army as well as al-Qaeda's affiliate al-Nusra Front and Daesh (Islamic State).
The American analyst recalls that back in 2012 US mainstream media confirmed that the CIA was sending weapons to anti-Assad forces from the Turkish side of the border, through the notorious Muslim Brotherhood.
Needless to say, Can Dundar and Cumhuriyet Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul were immediately jailed on "espionage" and "terror" charges.
Draitser emphasizes that during an official speech at Harvard University US Vice President Joe Biden openly lambasted Turkey and Washington's allies in the Persian Gulf for sponsoring Sunni extremism in the region.
"Our allies in the region were our largest problem in Syria. The Turks were great friends… [and] the Saudis, the Emirates, etcetera. What were they doing?…They poured hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Assad — except that the people who were being supplied, [they] were al-Nusra [Front], and al-Qaeda, and the extremist elements of jihadis who were coming from other parts of the world," Biden said in his famous speech.
However, that is not all. Draitser underscores that Ankara has also been involved in funding and training Uyghur terrorists from China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region.
He quotes Syria's ambassador to China Imad Moustapha who elaborated that "[Recep] Erdogan has been bringing Uyghurs into Syria by special transport while his government has been agitating in favor of their struggle in China. Uyghur and Burmese Muslim terrorists who escape into Thailand somehow get Turkish passports and are then flown to Turkey for transit into Syria."
The US geopolitical analyst stresses that as many as five thousand Uyghur extremists have arrived in Turkey since 2013, citing IHS-Jane's Defense Weekly. According to some estimates, two thousand Uyghur militants have joined Islamist fighters in Syria.
"It has become clear that Turkey is now unmistakably a major supporter of international terrorism, with Syria being merely the proving ground for a stable of terror groups directly or indirectly working with Erdogan's government," Draitser points out.
"Let's face it, Turkey is now a mafia state ruled by a criminal regime," the geopolitical analyst highlights.
Embarrassingly for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Turkey is also a NATO member state.
