Former Turkish consul to Mosul: ‘IS still strong’

ANKARA, Turkey (Kurdistan24) – Defeating the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria is not possible at the moment because there is no serious and transparent plan, said Ozturk Yilmaz, the former consul general of Turkey to Mosul, on Tuesday.

In an exclusive interview with Kurdistan24, Yilmaz explained the reasons the threat of IS has not been completely diminished: “Da’esh is still strong not because it has weapons or stability, but because its opponents are not united,” said Yilmaz, using the Arabic pejorative term for IS.

On liberating Mosul, Yilmaz stated that it is “easy and not easy at the same time,” explaining that “it could be easy if there is a serious and clear plan in fighting IS, and it would not be easy if there are not concerted international efforts.”

Regarding the accusations that Turkey is supporting IS, Yilmaz said, “I see it as a criticism against the way Turkey fights IS rather than an accusation, because even the international coalition is criticized for not being serious and slow in fighting Da’esh.”

For example, the Canada-based Global Research Center (GRC) said in an article published on Jan. 10, “Documents seized by Kurdish forces dated December 2014 – March 2015 have ISIS ‘department of immigration’ and ‘department of transport’ stamps.”

“[The documents] show that its fighters freely moved back and forth through Turkish and Syrian border areas. Seven manifests contain names, dates of birth and other ID information of 70 people, including men, women and infants,” said GRC.

Yilmaz was taken as a hostage in June 2015 and held for 101 days along with 48 other diplomats after IS insurgents took over Mosul. He was released on Sep. 20, 2014.

Reporting by Hisham Arafat

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany and Ava Homa