Syria's deputy foreign minister says Sedat Peker's claims are true
Photo: AA/File
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Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Bashar Jaafari has confirmed Sedat Peker's claims about arms shipment and illicit trade between Turkey and armed groups in Syria.
In a YouTube video he released on May 30, the exiled mob boss claimed that SADAT, a private contractor, had been sending weapons to "terror" groups, including the Nusra Front.
He also claimed billions of dollars worth of illicit trade was going on between the two counties and it was organized by Turkey's Director of Presidential Administrative Affairs Metin Kıratlı.
Syria has "definitive information about the Erdoğan regime's malpractices and abuses," Jaafari told Deutsche Welle Turkish.
Damascus has sent 108 letters to the UN Secretary General, the UNSC and subcommittees about "thousands of terrorists coming from Turkey," he said.
"I'd like to express that I confirm, affirm and verify what Mr. Sedat Peker said is completely true," said Jaafari.
"What Mr. Sedat Peker said about the involvement of the Erdoğan regime —including his family members— in the theft of our oil, natural gas, mines and grain," he said. "Because we witnessed in 2015 and 2016 that Erdoğan's son managed the theft of our oil and natural gas by ISIS."
Russia had made similar accusations against Turkey at the time.
In a 2015 interview with Italy's daily Corriere Della Sera, Bilal Erdoğan, the son of the president, denied the claims of oil trade with ISIS and that he had "fled" to Italy.
A pro-government figure before his departure of the country in late 2019, Peker publicly supported Turkey's actions in Syria. In early 2018, Peker shared photos of equipment he had sent to the Free Syrian Army on social media. Dozens of pickups, hundreds of body armors and other equipment were shown in the photos.
In his YouTube videos viewed by millions of people, he claimed some fo the equipment he sent to Turkmen groups was handed out to "terror" groups such as Nusra. (PT/VK)