Turkey Supplied Sarin Gas To ISIS, claims Turkish MP

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Materials to produce deadly sarin gas arrived in ISIS camps in Syria after originating in Turkey, claims Turkish MP Eren Erdem. Sarin gas was used in several instances during the fighting in Damascus in 2013.

Erdem, am member of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), levelled his charges during a parliamentary session, and cited evidence from an abruptly-closed criminal case, the Belfast Telegraph reports.

Erdem presented as evidence a copy of the criminal case from the General Prosecutor’s Office in city of Adana in southern Turkey. According to the evidence, Erdem said, Turkish nationals were directly supplying the gas to ISIS and other terrorist groups in Syria.

Authorities, according to Erdem, arrested 13 suspects after a series of raids, however the case was closed only a week later. All suspects have since left Turkey for Syria.

“There is data in this indictment. Chemical weapon materials are being brought to Turkey and being put together in Syria in camps of ISIS which was known as Iraqi Al Qaeda during that time,” Erdem said.

Erdem said Turkish citizens negotiated with ISIS agents, and accused the government of not doing enough to disrupt ISIS’ supply routes.

“These are all detected. There are phone recordings of this shipment like ‘don’t worry about the border, we’ll take care of it’ and we also see the bureaucracy is being used,” he said.

Allegations against Turkey’s complicity in ISIS’s efforts to supply itself have been raised by several actors in the field. Russia has levelled allegation that Turkey is responsible for allowing ISIS’ oil trade to continue. Kurdish and Syrian Sunni groups have also accused the Turkish government of complicity in allowing ISIS’ arms and oil smuggling operations through Turkey.