Russian UN envoy: Turkey may provide training to terrorists that can end up in Russia

THE UNITED NATIONS, February 18. /TASS/. Turkey may provide training to terrorists of the Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) not only for fighting in Syria but for their further possible transfer to Russia, Russia’s Permanent Representative at the UN Vitaly Churkin said in a letter to the world organization’s Security Council.

"Reportedly, representatives of ISIL - with the help from the Turkish intelligence services - have established an extensive network in Antalya for the recruitment of individuals who have arrived in Turkey from the post-Soviet States, to enable their participation in the Syrian conflict and possible transfer to Russia," says the letter posted on the UN Official Documents System Search on Wednesday.

Churkin provided names of recruiters, with natives of Russia and Azerbaijan among them.

"They are led by a Russian Federation national, Ruslan Rastyamovich Khaibullov (also known as Baris Abdul or by the pseudonym ‘The Teacher’), born on 1 April 1978 in Tatarstan. He lives with his family in Antalya. He has a Turkish permanent residence permit," he wrote in the letter.

Recruitment "takes place with the knowledge of the temporary detention center administration" in Antalya.

"If a detainee agrees to accept Islam and engage in terrorist activity, the recruiters promise to ‘make a deal’ with the Turkish law enforcement agencies and offer, free of charge, the services of a Turkish lawyer, Tahir Tosolar," the diplomat said.

In the meantime, another Turkish national named Sultan Kekhursaev, a Chechen, makes visits to those detention centers as well.

Militants are transferred to Syria and Yemen

Russia’s envoy said that in September 2014 a group of over 1,000 fighters of the Islamic State terrorist group, "who had come from countries in Europe and Central Asia" were allowed to cross into Syria from Turkey in the locality of at Alikaila (Gaziantep).

The routes of militants’ crossings pass in the vicinity of the Turkish-Syrian border through Antakya, Reyhanl·, Topaz, Sanl·urfa and Hatay.

Besides, since last December the Turkish intelligence services have organized "an air route for moving ISIL fighters from Syria through Turkey to Yemen using Turkish military air transport," the letter says.

"An alternative means of transporting fighters is by sea to the Yemeni port of Aden," Churkin said.

Besides, Churkin mentions in the letter training camps in the Turkish province of Hatay, where the country’s intelligence services had assisted to set up camps "to gather illegal migrants and provide training in preparation for the dispatch of extremist gangs to Syria."

Rehabilitation of militants and supplies of weapons

Russia’s ambassador to the UN pointed out that the militants wounded in Syria had been undergoing treatment and were provided with rest places in Turkey’s areas neighboring Syria. Thus, in Gaziantep "at least 700 fighters" underwent rehabilitation.

Along with this, Churkin exposed a scheme of weapons supplies to terrorists in Syria through Turkish funds - Insan Hak Ve Hurriyetleri Ve Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH), Imkander and Oncu Nesil Insani Yardim Dernegi.

Supplies of weapons, military hardware and ammunition "are arriving from abroad via the Turkish port of Iskenderun," he said. Then the military equipment is transported from there through the Hatay Province (Oncupinar border crossing) to the Syrian cities of Aleppo and Idlib on the trucks belonging to these Turkish funds. Churkin listed the vehicle registration plates in his letter. Later on, in Syria the weapons and ammunition are distributed among Turkmen fighters.

Russia’s envoy said that weapons and medicines were transported through the Ceylanp·nar border checking point in the Reyhanl· district.

On September 15, 2014 the shipment was escorted via the Turkish territory "by a vehicle carrying MIT personnel (Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization eds. TASS)."