MESOP FLASH : Turkey a route for arms going to IS, al-Nusra: UN report

Turkey is being used as one of the primary routes for weapons smuggling to the Islamic State (IS) and al-Nusra, according to a United Nations report.

30 Dec 2014 – Kurdpress – “Most [arms] supplies have either been seized from the armed forces of Iraq or (to a lesser extent) the Syrian Arab Republic, or have been smuggled to IS and [al-Nusra], primarily by routes that run through Turkey,” said a report penned by the U.N. al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee. Turkey has been pressured by Western countries to beef up its measures at borders, which have been claimed to be a primary route for jihadists’ oil and weapons smuggling as well as foreign jihadists’ joining the war in Syria. Turkey, for its part, denies the accusations of negligence in its border policies and insists that it is maintaining a close and firm watch on its borders.