Posted on December 8, 2013 by michaellee2009
London, (SANA)- In a further evidence on Turkey’s involvement in supporting the terrorists in Syria, the BBC revealed Saturday that foreign “jihadist fighters” are using safe houses in southern Turkey to cross into Syria to fight within the terrorist groups’ ranks.
Many previous reports proved that the Turkish government has been shutting its eyes on the hundreds of foreign gunmen who cross the border into Syria to join al-Qaeda-linked terrorist groups.
Saturday’s report by BBC correspondent Richard Galpin quoted a man running one of those houses used by the terrorists that is located near the border town of Reyhanli as saying that “more than 150 people – including up to 20 Britons – had used it in the past three months”.
He added that “jihadists usually stay for a day or two before crossing into Syria and stay on the way back when they are waiting for flights back to their home countries”.
The Turkish Haberturk newspaper revealed in a report published early this month that around 1500 Europeans are in Turkey waiting to cross into Syria and fight along with al-Qaeda.
The report noted that the Turkish government knows about the presence of “suspicious” extremists on its land.
These reports come amid increasing news that the route through Turkey used by al-Qaeda-linked groups is now becoming increasingly organized, particularly in light of the increase in the number of “foreign gunmen” who head to Syria to join the terrorist groups.
Western concerns over the threat which those terrorists could pose if they returned to their home countries are also increasing.
One such “fighter” from France told the BBC correspondent that “there are thousands of us, literally from every corner of the world”.
“And we are all al-Qaeda,” he added.
The gunman, a former student in France, said he had joined a brigade which had 8,000 men, noting that the brigade had recently pledged allegiance to the so- called the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, which is linked to al-Qaeda.
Official estimates and press reports stress that the number of foreign gunmen who are fighting within the terrorist groups’ ranks in Syria is on the rise.
A large number of those have come from European countries, including Germany, France and the Netherlands. There are also many others who come from Chechnya, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.