Germany Finally Admits Turkey Supports Terrorist Groups

The cat is finally out of the bag:

Turkey has worked with Islamist groups and has supported militant organizations in the Middle East for years, according to the German government, state broadcaster ARD reported Tuesday.

The view was expressed in a confidential response from the interior ministry to parliamentary questions from left-wing party Die Linke. The response was seen by ARD. The ministry added that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has actively supported cooperation with Islamist and terrorist organizations.

The ministry said in its statement:

The many expressions of solidarity and support actions for the Egyptian MB [Muslim Brotherhood], Hamas and the armed Islamist opposition groups in Syria by the ruling AK Party and President Erdoğan emphasize the ideological affinity with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Of course, this comes as a surprise to exactly no one. Ankara’s support for radical groups has been well documented, even though the Erdogan regime has tried to suppress such reports in Turkey itself. Some Turkish reporters who dared expose Erdogan’s failed policies have even been jailed and accused of treason.

Be that as it may, even Erdogan can’t suppress the truth forever. As the German interior ministry added in its briefing:

[A]s a result of the gradually Islamized domestic and foreign policy of Ankara since 2011, Turkey has become the central platform for action for Islamist groups in the Middle East.

It’s time to connect the dots: because Turkey is supporting Islamist groups in the Middle East, it is no longer a reliable ally of the West. This means that it’s time for the United States and Europe to oust Turkey from NATO. After all, NATO’s alliance is only effective if its members are confident they can rely on each other, which is clearly not the case with the “New Turkey” led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who’s quickly becoming a full-blown Islamist authoritarian.

IT’S TIME> #Turkey out of #NATO, #Israel in. https://t.co/k54N1dLZiu via @Yahoocanada

— Roger Simon (@rogerlsimon) August 21, 2016

If Erdogan is so determined to support radical Sunni groups in the Middle East, he can do so without simultaneously relying on NATO for when the going gets tough.