Wiesenthal Centre to European Union: "Turkish Ratline for European Volunteers to ISIS is Now Bringing Them Back as Qualified Jihadists"

July 3, 2020

"Stop fixating on Israel and turn your attention to a dangerous reality: now in their mid-20s to mid-30s, having stoned women charged with adultery, chopping the hands of thieves and decapitating hostages, they are escorted home to theatres near us all."

PARIS - In a letter to European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Joseph Borrell, Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, suggested that he "stop fixating on Israel" and turn his attention to a dangerous reality: "The  Turkish ratline network that brought European volunteers to ISIS (in Arabic Daesh) is now bringing them home as qualified Jihadists."

Samuels stressed that "the main route is to France and Germany, with indications of destinations in Spain and Belgium."

The well-sourced French daily, Le Parisien, suggested that "the territorial losses of the 'Islamic State', instability in Syria and the vulnerability of the Kurdish camps, intelligence agencies fear that combatants are secretly reaching European soil."

"One might add the mass of refugees and anarchic conditions within Syria: the genocidal regime, and the chaotic roles of Iran, Russia, Turkey and their proxies," noted the Centre.

"Mr. High Representative, under these conditions we find your blog post, tweeted only today, to be out of context: 'one of our enlightening moments of the Brussels Conference on Syria was my exchange with Syrian civil society. Their commitment and determination is a lesson of dignity'..."

Samuels argued, "This hardly reflects the reality of the Raqqa hecatomb and the Turkish guides bringing young Europeans trained in the battlefield... Now in their mid-20s to mid-30s, having stoned women charged with adultery, chopping the hands of thieves and decapitating hostages, their Turkish chaperones are escorting them home to theatres near us all."
 
“High Representative Borrell, we urge you to take action under your mandate for Security Policy. The targets will not be just Jews, Christians, moderate Muslims, women, Gays, etc...  It will be indiscriminate against every European and everyone in Europe,” concluded Samuels.


For further information, contact Samuels at csweurope@gmail.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is an international Jewish human rights organization numbering over 400.000 members. It holds consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS and the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO).