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David L. Phillips, director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights and a former expert at and senior adviser to the US State Department, spoke with Artı Gerçek about Turkey’s relations with the United States and NATO and its involvement with ISIS.
“ISIS will remain a risk until Turkey stops supporting Islamist groups,” Phillips said.
“The Biden government fails to understand that Turkey and ISIS are one and the same. As of 2014, nearly 40,000 jihadists from 80 countries went to the front lines in Syria via Turkey. Turkey’s National Intelligence Organisation (MİT) gave logistic assistance to assist their travels, provided weapons and money,” he said.
It is possible for the Biden government to object to Turkish President Erdoğan’s new attack on Rojava, but it is unlikely that it will intervene directly in the war, he stated.
If Turkey applied to join NATO today, its application would be rejected because it is Islamist, corrupt, anti-American and hostile to human rights, he argued.
If Turkey continues to drift towards autocracy, it should join the Russian-led Eurasian autocracies security group, he added.
