ISIS emir Ahmet Osman Abdullah, code name Ebu Omer Ceza, who surrendered to the YPG made striking confessions on Turkey-ISIS relations.

ISIS emir Ahmet Osman Abdullah escaped from ISIS in 2015 and surrendered to the YPG and has been arrested for some 10 months. Ahmet Osman Abdullah spoke about why he joined ISIS, what he saw once he was there, the conflicts he experienced, the relationship between ISIS and the Turkish state and why he surrendered to the YPG.

HOW DID HE BECOME AN ISIS EMIR?

Ahmet Osman Abdullah joined ISIS from Til Hemîs in 2014 and took the code name Ebu Omer Ceza because he was born in Ceza. Ahmet Osman Abdullah was born in 1973 and left school after the 6th grade. He first joined the FSA (Free Syrian Army) when the Syrian revolution first began. When ISIS invaded Ceza, he went to the villages. And when Ceza was liberated by the YPG, he moved to Til Hemîs. There, he developed a relationship with ISIS through a man called Ebu Nasır, due to both fear and poverty, and because he thought they were a Syrian force. Some time later, he was taken to Hol by Ebu Nasır and stayed in the camp there for 3 or 4 months. His monthly allowance there was 5 thousand Syrian liras, which rose to 50 thousand a month after his joining procedures were completed and he was assigned a car and two guards.

Ahmet Osman Abdullah shared the following:

FIRST INTELLIGENCE HEAD, THEN EMIR

Following a military and religious education, I was given the responsibility for the intelligence efforts in Hol. We were arresting people. We were doing administrative work. We were also finding men to carry out explosions in cities like Qamishlo and Hesekê and took care of their needs. A while after I joined, Ebu Nasır who had introduced me to ISIS was arrested for theft. Ebu Fadıl Ali Farız replaced him. Then he was arrested too. I was respected in the region and people listened to me. ISIS asked me to become the emir in their place.

‘4 MORE EMIRS ARRIVED’

After I became an emir, emirs escaping the YPG-liberated Til Hemîs Ebu Ayşe, Ebu Bekir, Ebu Velid and Ebu Taşfin came to our region. They had higher rank than me and they became effective. They were doing bad things. I observed them for a while. All they cared about was getting with the girls. Smoking and drinking were banned, but they smoked and drank. I documented their situation.

More than half of ISIS’ forces are from outside of Syria. There are intelligence agents from many states. There are Kazaks, Chechens, Saudis, Tunisians, French people, Russians, Turks and many other foreigners. The foreigners are valued more than the Syrians. Emirs are chosen from among them mostly. They are obeyed more. They don’t value the Syrians in ISIS so much, and also they are cruel to the peoples in the regions.

The most valued people in ISIS were the Turks. There were many MİT members among them. Their headquarters was Şeddadê, which was later liberated by the YPG. They were around 60 people. They were valued so much. They used code names and had direct relationships to the Governor of the region.

The Turks said they came to fight the kuffar for Islam, but their first target was the Kurds and the YPG. They hated the Kurds and the YPG.

‘ISIS IS TURKEY’S HANDMAID’

The relationship between the Turkish state and ISIS is very strong. Almost all of ISIS’ needs are met by the Turkish state, the food, the weapons, the fighters... There is the transfer of oil. Turkey and ISIS are not seperate entities.

‘THEY HAVE CAMPS IN TURKEY’

ISIS has camps within Turkey. Turkey aids ISIS in this sense. ISIS members cross over from Syria and get training in camps in Turkey. Then they move to different countries and work on recruiting and carry out attacks.  Almost all travel is through Turkey. In this regard, Girê Spî and Jarablus are very important. After Girê Spî was liberated, Jarablus gained more significance for ISIS and Turkey because these are the border points from where all the crossings are made.

‘THE SUPPORT WASN’T ONE-SIDED’

The Turkish state had demands from ISIS in return for all their support. Because Turkey was tending to all their needs, ISIS had to comply. The biggest emirs of ISIS came from Reqa and met with out emirs. There were Turks among them. They told us Turkey’s demands meant everything to them, they can’t refuse. Because Turkey fulfills their needs, ISIS has to act in line with Turkey. Turkey’s target was the Kurds. ISIS always gave us Kurds as the first target.

Many attacks in the name of ISIS in Turkey were carried out by the Turkish state. ISIS doesn’t do the explosions. But they claim the action by Turkey’s demand. Because Turkey threatens to stop the support and close borders if ISIS doesn’t comply.

‘THE TURKISH STATE FOUNDED AN ORGANISATION WITH ISIS MEMBERS’

Just recently, the Turkish state founded a new organisation with ISIS members. Many in ISIS are crossing to Turkey and joining this new organisation. These are mostly Syrians, and the same gangs that were placed in Jarablus region by the Turkish state. They go to Turkey, they cut their beards and wear new clothes.

Saudi Arabia and Turkey act together at this point.

‘PEOPLE HAVE NO VALUE FOR ISIS’

There is constant rivalry between emirs especially. They are constantly sending complaint reports on each other. They are just like the Syrian regime. Especially lately in the region I was in, they got really bad. They did some bad things. They chased women, riches and personal stuff. People have no value for ISIS. They slaughter people like so many chickens. They torture people. They are cruel to the public.

‘WOMEN SOLD IN SLAVE MARKETS’

There was the all-women “Hansa Battalion” to punish women. They caught and tortured women who didn’t submit to ISIS demands. They were mostly foreigners.

They married women off to other people when their husbands were killed in the war. They killed women who had 3-4 marriages. They enslaved women in places they invaded, tortured them and sold them in slave markets. Their best customers are the rich Saudis.

‘RUNNING TO TURKEY IS NOT A SOLUTION’

I couldn’t stay in ISIS anymore. They had all kinds of savage treatment for the people and each other. They skinned people, they beheaded people. I wanted to run away from ISIS for a long time and I was looking for a way. There were some who escaped ISIS and went to Turkey. But I didn’t want that. I preferred dying in my country to going to Turkey where I would be looked down upon like ISIS. Still, in the period that I was a part of them, I saw that ISIS and Turkey are not different and that they are together. The way of the Turkish state is to kill. So I looked for a way out from ISIS.

‘PEOPLE WERE PLEASED WITH THE YPG’

I received different information from places liberated by the YPG. The people were pleased with the YPG. ISIS was cruel to people and they oppressed them everywhere they went, but the YPG wasn’t like that. On the contrary, they defended the land. For example, regions like Til Hemîs, Hol and Ceza are mostly Arab-populated. But the YPG was defending their safety and our lands. They had liberated many cities like Qamishlo, Rimelan, etc. but they didn’t do this just for themselves and the Kurds. They did it for all the peoples. I was impressed by this. If I wanted, I had the money, I could run to Europe. But I chose to stay in Syrian lands and turn myself in to the justice of YPG, defender of this land.

WIFE AND CHILD PLACED IN A VILLAGE

After I turned myself in, my wife and my child were placed in a village by the YPG, and I was arrested. I have been under arrest for 10 months now. I haven’t been subjected to any inhumane treatment. On the contrary, my brother, my mother hadn’t shown me this much value as a person. I was never pressured for my faith and my worship. I apologize to Kurds and all peoples that I joined ISIS.”