The killing of Qurayshi raises questions about Turkey's links to ISIS
Earlier this month President Biden proclaimed that the leader of the Islamic State was killed in a Syrian hideout. The raid, which took place a few kilometers from the border with Turkey, did not include Turkish forces. In fact, President Biden praised the Syrian Democratic Forces, with Kurdish fighters at its core, for their contributions in the raid. Turkey’s exclusion from the raid, and the fact that the Islamic State leader’s hideout was so close to Turkey's border, have raised new questions about Ankara’s commitment to the fight against ISIS and its possible links to the terrorist group. Expert David Phillips joins our host Thanos Davelis to talk about the recent counterterrorism operation against the Islamic State’s leader and look into the links between Turkey and ISIS.
David Phillips is the Director of the Program on Human Rights and Peace-building at Columbia University. Phillips is also a former senior adviser to the UN Secretariat and US State Department, and the author of the books Frontline Syria: From Revolution to Proxy War, The Great Betrayal: How America Abandoned the Kurds and Lost the Middle East, and An Uncertain Ally: Turkey Under Erdogan's Dictatorship.
Read David Phillips’ latest piece here: The killing of Qurayshi: Are Turkey and ISIS still bonded?
You can read the articles we discuss on our podcast here:
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