There is a growing controversy in Turkey about several incidents that left the impression that the authorities were supporting rebels fighting in Syria to topple President Bashar Assad, including jihadists. Several reports and leaks accused the Turkish government of turning a blind eye to the flow of weapons and fighters to radical and Al-Qaeda affiliated groups through Turkish soil. Others accused the government of actually providing arms and weapons to the different groups operating in Syria including the hardliners and jihadists. The government repeatedly denied the accusations. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on different occasions that Turkey has a strong stance against the radical groups operating in Syria and that Ankara only provides diplomatic and humanitarian aid to Syrian opposition. The Syrian National Council led by Syrian opposition figures is operating from Istanbul after being granted permission from Ankara. The Free Syrian Army is the only armed group that the Turkish government openly admits to allowing to mobilize and operate out of Turkish soil, however, denies providing any form of militarily assistance to them. These suspicions have intensified in recent weeks amid the political row about internal government divisions. Last month, two different incidents took place in which trucks were apprehended by security forces, the anti-terror police in one case and the army in the other one, after receiving tips that those trucks were carrying weapons and arms in their way to Syria. Yet, the trucks in both cases were not searched nor seized by police and were let go upon orders from government officials who said that it was a matter of "national security secrets." Turkish media later reported that members of the Turkish intelligence agency (MIT) were on board of the trucks in both cases. In the second case, on January 19, the local governor of a border city with Syria admitted that trucks in question belonged to the MIT. However, another blow to Turkish government handling the growing controversy came after the top Israeli Intelligence chief announced on January 29 that Al-Qaeda-affiliated groups were in Syria had three different bases on Turkish soil. Major-General Aviv Kochavi presented a security conference with a map of the Middle East that showed different bases for Al-Qaeda, three of those bases were inside Turkey. According to the Israeli general, Al-Qaeda fighters used the bases as transfer points into Syria, and didn't stay there. Meanwhile, a big-scale simultaneous operation took place on January 15 in six different Turkish provinces as part of an anti-Al-Qaeda operation. More than 20 people were detained as part of the operation including two senior Al-Qaeda commanders. As part of the operation, an office of the Turkish charity Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), an organization with close ties to government and known for its 2010 Gaza flotilla Mavi Marmara, was raided and one of their employees was taken into custody. But in a move that only seemed to hurt Turkish government's official stance on radical groups, two anti-terror police chiefs who were involved in planning the anti Al-Qaeda raids were dismissed hours after the operation took place. Turkish government suspected involvement in the civil war in Syria hit a new spectrum following recent leaks of pictures showing Erdogan's son meeting a Saudi businessman accused of having ties with jihadist groups. The pictures that circulated on various Turkish media websites showed Bilal Erdogan meeting Yaser Al Qadi in a hotel lobby in Istanbul a year ago. Al Qadi was placed on a UN list as a financer of the Al-Qaeda groups until 2012. His name remains on the US blacklist after the US Treasury department identified his charitable Muwafaq foundation as an Al-Qaeda front back in 2001. Commenting on his sons meeting with Al Qadi, Erdogan said: "Yasin al Qadi is a Saudi businessman who loves Turkey and wants to invest in this country. He has no connection with Al-Qaeda. He has been acquitted of all accusations made against him. Is it a crime to meet with this person who wants to make a huge investment in Turkey?" What adds to the mystery and raises more question marks is a recently released joint report by the MIT, the gendarmerie and the Police Department. The report claims that AL-Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and Sham or Levent (ISIS) is believed to be perpetrating attacks in different Turkish cities The report indicated that the attacks would include car bombs and assassinations, and also provided the colors, models and plate numbers of 15 suspected cars. This report comes days after the Turkish army released a statement on Jan 28 claiming that it opened fire on an ISIS convoy in northern Syria as a retaliation to an attack on two Turkish army vehicles at a border post.
