‘Turkish government cooperates with jihadists’, German government says, secretly

Merkel and Erdogan, EPA photo

This photo shows German federal chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish president Erdogan, claiming together to be humanitarian.

There are grave doubts about how humanitarian really the governments of both Ms Merkel and Mr Erdogan are in practice.

Translated from Dutch NOS TV:

Berlin: Turkey supports radical Islamic terrorist groups

Today, 13:33

The German government presumes that the Turkish government under Erdogan “actively supports” radical Islamic and terrorist organizations. The German public broadcaster ARD reports this based on leaked, confidential answers to questions from opposition party Die Linke. …

This leaked message can lead according to the German media again to a row between Germany and Turkey. Whether that is happening or not is not clear yet, but the government thinks these documents should never have been leaked. The government surely worries about this.

Hub

The confidential documents are said to say that Turkey is strengthening its links with extremist movements, “As a result of the Islamization of Turkish domestic and foreign policy introduced since 2011, the country has developed into a hub for Islamist groups in the Middle East,” writes ARD.

These conclusions come from the BND, the German foreign intelligence, but are incorporated in an official German government document. The questions of Die Linke can not be answered in public, according to the document, because it would not be in the national interest.

In public, the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel has hitherto been reticent about Turkey and Erdogan’s ties to radical Islamic organizations. …

SPD politician Rolf Mützenich said to the station: “This is a NATO country where German soldiers are stationed.”

Die Linke has been critical of Turkey and the German cooperation with that country in the refugee crisis before. The party sees is views confirmed by this assessment.

The party accuses the government that to the outside world they paint a different picture of Turkey, while the ministers behind the scenes are much more critical.