Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin break the ice; hold coffee-table summit in Turkey

[bemildred]

4. Chomsky: Syrian al-Nusra main recipient of Turkish aid

World famous linguist Noam Chomsky has claimed that the Syrian extremist group al-Nusra has been a major recipient of Turkish aid and accused Turkish intelligence of selling out US-trained moderate Syrian forces.

"Turkey is the main supporter of jihadi organizations, which are merely distinguished by the Islamic State [the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)]," Chomsky told a packed group of students, journalists and activists at Boston College on Saturday. Chomsky's speech was part of a conference on press freedom in the Middle East organized by the Peace Islands Institute.

Chomsky is not the first to accuse Turkey of what many have called implicit support for radical groups in Syria opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Turkish authorities have been the subject of much criticism for the porous and loosely inspected border that has been a major transit route for Syria-bound foreign fighters.

Chomsky said Turkey has been very resistant to attacking ISIL, despite a recent deal between Turkey and the US on the use of Turkish airfields for US warplanes. He added that the US claimed or believed that Turkey would join the fight against ISIL after the deal. "But they didn't," Chomsky said, recalling that Turkey instead attacked Kurds in Iraq and Syria.

http://www.todayszaman.com/diplomacy_chomsky-syrian-al-nusra-main-recipient-of-turkish-aid_404345.html