German citizen Ergün Orhan (code name: Ebubekir Almani) has something to say to the German government, who responded to a written inquiry submitted after the invasion attempt against Afrin with “There is no evidence or findings that show Turkey is colluding with terrorist organizations like ISIS and Al Nusra.” Held prisoner by the YPG, Orhan has shared some information on the relationship between ISIS and Turkey.

28 years old Ergün Orhan is a Turkish man from Isparta who was born and raised in Germany. He holds both Turkish and German citizenships. In 2013, in the Ebu Bekir Mosque in Cologne, he met ISIS through the imam. He frequented the mosque for a year, after which he and his wife joined ISIS. The imam’s code name is Ebu Beydeydi, and he is from Morocco.

JOURNEY TO ISIS OVER TURKEY

Ergün Orhan travelled from Germany to Antalya, and then from Antalya to Antep, where he crossed into Syria from the Jarablus border in a shuttle bus that carried new arrivals like him, very comfortably. On how easy it was to move around on the border, Orhan said: “The border was completely open.”

TURKEY’S FRIENDSHIP DURING MANBIJ

German citizen Turkish ISIS member Ergün Orhan took on various roles in various areas during his stay in the organization. After training in Jarablus, he went to Manbij to work in the military administration. That was during the time ISIS was attacking to invade Kobanê, about which Orhan said: “During the Kobanê process, Turkey had opened a path for ISIS to cross the border and attack. They were sending them weapons. ISIS had many waiting points and houses around the border line within Turkey’s territory. The borders were wide open for ISIS. Turkey aided ISIS quite a lot. When I was in the military administration in Manbij, the wounded and sick ISIS members came to my emir to take leave. Some of them went to Turkey to receive treatment in hospitals there. Most of them were allowed. Turkey never gave them any trouble. There was a hospital in Istanbul and another one on the Syrian border, to serve ISIS.”

MEMBER OF ISIS AND TURKISH POLICE FORCE

Orhan said the head of the unit called the Horsemen of the Caliphate under Ciheman in the Antep Group of ISIS was Fudel. Ciheman headed the military administration in Manbij, while Fudel was his deputy. The attacks against the HDP in Adana and Mersin, and the hitmen used in the Ankara and Suruç Massacres were from this unit. The gang leader Fudel was a man who worked for both Turkish and ISIS intelligence. Ciheman is Turkish as well, he was on duty in Afghanistan as an Al Qaeda member and was later killed during the Manbij Operation process. Mustafa Şami (Orhan’s most recent emir in Bab) said Fudel crossed into Turkey and continued his work in the Turkish police. He was working for both sides.

ALSO A SNIPER

Ergün Orhan worked in the police organization and as a guard in Bab after Manbij. After a while, he left the police organization and joined the snipers unit, where he was wounded. He later became the head of the equipment warehouse in Cizîr. Orhan said: “I heard that people who left ISIS and went to Turkey were not arrested, on the contrary, they opened up businesses. Now many of them settled in Turkey and they just go about freely.”

Orhan crossed into Deir ez-Zor after Shaddadi, and it was there he and his wife fled and surrendered to the YPG after the Operation Cizîre Storm started. On why he didn’t flee to Turkey despite hearing about how those who did were not sentenced to prison, he said: “I myself fled ISIS along with my family. I didn’t want to go to Turkey, because of my dual citizenship I could have been conscripted. Turkey had aided ISIS a lot, that is why I didn’t want to go there. ISIS ruined our lives.”