Turkish brig.-gen. executed for revealing Qatari funding of jihadists

Brigadier-General Semih Terzi was reported in 2016 to have been one of the organizers behind the failed coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL
Turkish army Victory Day 521 (photo credit: REUTERS/Umit Bektas)
Turkish army Victory Day 521
(photo credit: REUTERS/Umit Bektas)
The former head of Turkey’s Special Forces Command Intelligence Division (OKK) ordered that one of the organizers of the 2016 coup be assassinated because he reportedly had knowledge of illicit Qatari funding of jihadi groups in the Syrian civil war, a Turkish colonel who worked for the (OKK) testified in a court proceeding, the Nordic Monitor website reported Friday.
“[Brig.-Gen. Semih Terzi] knew how much of the funding delivered [to Turkey] by Qatar for the purpose of purchasing weapons and ammunition for the opposition was actually used for that and how much of it was used by public officials, and how much was embezzled,” Col. Firat Alakus said.
Terzi was reported in 2016 to have been one of the organizers behind the failed coup against Turkish President  Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Alakus said the Qatari case was not the only example of how financial graft unfolded after monetary transfers to Turkey for use in the Syrian civil war, Nordic Monitor reported.
According to the Sweden-based news outlet, Alakus testified at the Ankara 17th High Criminal Court on March 20, 2019.
“Now, Semih Terzi was targeted because of his intimate knowledge of affairs relating to Syria, Your Honor. What is this information? If you want, I can expand on it, some of which is critical,” Alakus said at the court hearing.
Terzi “was aware of which public officials were assisting in arms smuggling to Syria and for what purpose,” he said.
“[Terzi’s murder] had to do with a trap devised by Zekai Aksakallı, who did not want such facts to come out into the open,” he added.
Lt.-Gen. Zekai Aksakallı oversaw the OKK at the time of Terzi’s assassination and has now become a Syrian civil war “profiteer,” according to Nordic Monitor.
Alakus said: “[Terzi] was aware of who in the government was involved in an oil-smuggling operation from Syria, how the profits were shared and what activities they were involved in.”
Terzi was also aware of the Turkish government providing medical care in Turkey to armed radical and jihadist groups disguised as moderate Free Syrian Army troops, he said. Allegations of Turkish officials securing bribes in exchange for providing services to the jihadis were raised in the court testimony.
Nordic Monitor obtained the transcript of the hearing. The Jerusalem Post could not independently verify the transcript.
Media outlets in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain reported on Alakus’s testimony based on the Nordic Monitor article. One Turkey expert told the Post he believes the legal documents published on the Nordic Monitor website are authentic.
Nordic Monitor is affiliated with Erdogan’s adversary Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish Islamic scholar and leader of the Gülen movement. Nordic Monitor describes itself as “a news portal that reports about developments on extremism, terrorism, crime, foreign policy, security and military matters.”
The Post reported Wednesday on the role of Qatar’s ambassador to Belgium and NATO, Abdulrahman bin Mohammed Sulaiman al-Khulaifi, in allegedly seeking to cover up a plan to finance Hezbollah, the Lebanese terrorist organization.


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