Dr. Nick Brauns is one of the German researchers who closely follows the developments in Turkey and Kurdistan. He produced many books, articles and research on the relations of the German state with Turkey and Kurdistan. Dr. Brauns spoke to ANF about Turkish organized crime leader Sedat Peker’s allegations regarding Turkey’s war crimes, weapon delivery to jihadist mercenaries in Syria and oil trade with ISIS.

"Peker’s allegations have been frequently voiced by the Kurdish media, HDP and other opposition politicians, and journalists such as Can Dündar. What’s new is that a member of the Turkish deep state who was involved in many of these affairs confirms the corrupt relations within the state.

Dr. Brauns said that the western countries and international powers were already aware of Turkish state’s involvement in criminal relations.

“The Russian administration told Erdogan that it prepared a detailed report on the oil trade with ISIS in Syria,” he added.

IF IT WASN’T TAKEN SERIOUSLY, DÜNDAR WOULD NOT BE ACCEPTED

Dr. Brauns said that Peker's allegations were already published in the mainstream media in Europe. “However, it is a new and important development that these crimes, which were previously covered by the Kurdish and socialist media, are also featured in the mainstream media today,” he noted.

“In contrast to mainstream media, there is no reaction on the side of politicians in western countries. The events that Peker revealed were already known to the German and other European governments for a long time. Germany took the events voiced by the opposition journalists in Turkey seriously and protected a journalist like Can Dündar who is deemed 'terrorist' by Turkey for investigating the weapons sent to Syria. That's why I would like to underline again that the German government has been aware of the state's relationship with mafia groups and jihadists for a long time,” Dr. Brauns remarked.

THE OPPOSITION SHOULD TAKE THE LEAD

“As far as I can follow, HDP is trying to start a campaign with other socialist parties. However, there is no move from the main opposition party CHP and the Iyi Party. Meral Akşener, head of Iyi Party, was a former interior minister and also took part in the network of relations Peker described.”

Dr. Brauns argued that Germany will keep its silence as long as the opposition in Turkey does not take action against the criminal regime. “There needs to be a reason for Germany, which is already aware of these dirty relations, to take action, and I think this reason can be created by the campaigns and reaction movements by the opposition in Turkey. The same is true for other western powers.”

DEEP STATE IS NOT ONLY PREVALENT IN TURKEY

Dr. Brauns emphasized that a strong voice that could emerge against the mafia structures in Turkey will be supported by Germany since the mafia structure of the state is also a great danger for Germany.  Turkey-based drug trade extends to Germany and those armed jihadists pose a great danger to Germany's security, Dr. Brauns continued. “There is something we should not forget; the deep state is not only prevalent in Turkey. Undoubtedly, this structure emerged during the Ottoman Empire, and it has been protected by secret alliances and putschists. For example, Abdullah Öcalan evaluated the coup mechanism in Turkey and he often talks about the coup tradition. This structure, called Gladio, has roots abroad and was built by NATO in 1950s."

NATO BUILDS NEW GLADIO STRUCTURES

Following the Cold War, Gladio within NATO got out of control by the end of the 1990s and NATO has established new Gladio structures. The German historian and journalist stated that the new structures are called “Gladio-B” or “Green Gladio”. He claimed that movements such as Gülen and Milli Görüş in Turkey are supported by these new structures.

For Dr. Brauns, the Erdogan regime, which experts deem a "Bonapartist regime", constantly changes partners and makes its opponents fight each other in order to survive. “Now Erdogan is trying to remove the so-called Eurasian forces and approach Europe and the USA again,” he said.

Sedat Peker is not waging a personal war and there may be different forces behind him. All his allegations are the manifestation of a power struggle, Dr. Brauns concluded.

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