Published on 16 May 2016
A Turkish border town which opened its homes to Syrian refugees, now resides at the threshold of a neighboring civil war.The town of Kilis has been hit by rockets more than 70 times since January, as the Islamic State in Syria continues to drive the region into conflict.
Once a safe haven for the displaced, resides of Kilis now reel with a terror they have not experienced before.
Since the rocket barrages by ISIS began, at least 21 people have died as a result including children; the wounded have numbered far higher.
Some houses have been reduced to rubble, representing similar scenes from within war-torn Syria.
One resident stated, the talk at the tea house everyday ponders when the next rockets will fall.
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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
