Published on 16 May 2016
ISIS
terrorists wounded on the Syrian battlefield regularly travel to Turkey
for complex and costly medical treatments, according to tapped phone
calls apparently ignored by Ankara’s security forces, and handed over to
the media by opposition MP Erem Erdem.
Transcripts of phone
recordings that were obtained by international media conversations with
Ilhami Bali, a ‘prominent’ figure within Islamic State (IS, formerly
ISIS/ISIL) terror group, who has a 1.3 million dollar bounty on his
head, shed additional light on the lucrative business of medical
treatments apparently offered by Turkish medical facilities to jihadi
fighters.
Read more: 'Records on ISIS terrorists ignored': Turkish MP accuses govt, passes police data to media (
http://on.rt.com/7clt)
According
to the information previously made public by Erdem, ISIS militants and
their families regularly get escorted back and forth through the
Syrian-Turkish border with the help of local middlemen and a lack of
counter-measures from authorities.
While Ankara staunchly denies
offering any safe havens for wounded ISIS members, or any links with the
terror group whatsoever, several phone taps point to the contrary,
echoing numerous earlier reports of the terror group’s cozy ties with
Turkey.
Some of those who are returning from Syria are often in
need of urgent medical assistance, according to intercepted
conversations. If everything goes smoothly and the smugglers are not
detained by Turkish authorities, the wounded militants get expensive,
board and undergo complicated medical procedures which sometimes amounts
to thousands of dollars, while the bills are then taken care of by
Islamic State.
Medical billing discussions took place between
Bali and two men, one of whom is named Savas, who is allegedly
responsible for arranging medical care in one of Turkish hospitals, and
another unnamed man, who allegedly arranges payment to be made to
medical facilities.
In one phone conversation between Bali and
Savas it is revealed that a number of ISIS fighters have successfully
made it to Turkey. All of them were operated on, but one man in
particular required an expensive surgery following a delayed leg
amputation.
“Yes they came. They were operated,” Savas replied to
Bali’s question of whether or not more “sick people” made it to the
hospital following their previous conversation. Savas then explains that
a complex operation for “Muhammad Emine” and his care in the hospital
propelled the costs to $32,000, and that a detailed invoice of all the
medical procedures was on its way to Bali.
“Brother, it’s one of
the best [prosthetic ] components, because they needed to amputate his
leg. He’s been here for two to three months because he does not want to
amputate his leg,” the man explains to Bali, who is trying to figure out
the cost of the treatment for jihadi fighters.
“We made a lot of
business together. We sat and ate together. So there is no problem,
brother. We made an agreement on $40.000,” Bali replies.
Read more: Turkish MP faces treason charges after telling RT ISIS used Turkey for transiting sarin (
http://on.rt.com/6zlw)
Discussing
the numbers further Savas, who appears to be on the Turkish side of the
border, offers a more detailed explanation of the invoice.
“So I
have made a list of everything after we have talked about it. How they
made it what they did, etc. I don’t want a package thing but there are
three persons who get medical operation,” Savas tells Bali. “There is
just one person who made problems. Its Muhammed Emin. Only his medical
treatment costs $18,000 and that’s really low-priced. I will make a list
of all the things they have done. You can ask all hospitals.”
Bali
then apparently called another man to figure out the breakdown of the
hospital bill. Going over the invoice, the conversations reveal a
further bill, the price of which is also being debated between ISIS men.
“I
made a discount from $48,000 to $35,000 for you. But these are just
costs of the hospital. If I include the cost for housing of $11,000 into
it, it makes $46,000, brother,” the man tells Bali.
“$11,000
dollar for what?,” wonders Bali, to which he gets an answer that the
money had been spent on food, housing, electricity, water costs. “I will
make a discount for all this. Only for you,” the man reassures Bali.
“There
is a list of the how many times they get food. It’s on the list. There
is a list of this,” the man says claiming that each meal at the facility
costs $5 and that over the billing cycle amounted to $6,000. “And they
used a lot of electricity. They used the air conditioning all the time,”
he explains. “I did not put these things into the amount. Made a
discount and more discount.”
READ MORE:
http://on.rt.com/7crj
