DISINFO: Turkey may introduce ISIS members in the EU for terrorist attacks at Christmas
SUMMARY
Former MI6 member Aimen Dean told the Daily Mail that ISIS decided to respond to the EU’s challenge, and its leaders are training militants in Syria and Libya. Afterwards, the plan is to send them to Europe through Turkey and the Mediterranean Sea. Through its agreements with the illegitimate Government of National Accord, Turkey is constantly transferring military equipment, ammunition and radical Islamists from Syria and Libya to strength the GNA forces, whose Coast Guard supervises the refugee ships and regulates its flux towards the EU. As a consequence, there may be ISIS terrorists among the passengers of those ships. Is is possible to think that jihadists have infiltrated the territory of France, Germany and UK already since a long time. Those terrorists may take advantage of the relaxation of the restrictive measures against Covid-19 during Christmas. In those celebrations, Europeans will be able to move freely in the streets and gather in squares. Those crowds will become the main target of the jihadists.
RESPONSE
Conspiracy theory not supported by any evidence. Though it is true that former MI6 member Aimen Dean warned of the possibility of ISIS attacks in European countries during Christmas during a security conference in London, which was covered by the Daily Mail, and he said that they could reach Europe through Turkey and the Mediterranean Sea, there was no mention to any Turkish participation in this scheme. The story was deliberately distorted to support pro-Kremlin narratives in Libya, where Turkey has been opposed to Russia’s interests. Contrary to the claim, the Government of National Accord is not illegitimate but recognised by the United Nations.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that British MI6 is behind Turkey’s actions in Karabakh; that after Karabakh, Turkey will take over Crimea; that if Georgia joins NATO, its territory will be annexed by Turkey; that the Turkish-Greek crisis took NATO to its limits; or that Erdogan’s task is to make the South Caucasus to explode for NATO to invade the region.