ISIS cash flow relies on Turkey

By F. Michael Maloof

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WASHINGTON — The cash flow for ISIS appears to depend on Turkey, but international requests for a cutoff probably are going nowhere while the jihadist group keeps control of dozens of Turkish diplomats being held hostage, according to Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

At a Paris meeting, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called for an end to the flow of money to support the Islamic State, or ISIS, much of which has been laundered through Turkey.

Fabius’ appeal is aimed at Gulf Arab countries but also members of the European Union, most of whom also are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO.

Some 30 countries pledged in Paris to use “whatever means necessary” to defeat ISIS, including halting sources of its financing.

Turkey also is a member of NATO, but it is dealing with circumstances unlike those facing other NATO countries. For example, it previously supported jihadist groups whose fighters later morphed into ISIS fighters. And while it now has called ISIS a terrorist group, the designation won’t make much difference.

That’s because ISIS holds hostage some 49 Turkish diplomats, taken when it overran Mosul last June in its blitzkrieg attacks into Iraq.

Consequently, ISIS’s ability to raise funds continues unabated. Turkey not only is a conduit for funds from the Gulf Arab countries but remains the main avenue for ISIS into Syria and Iraq to launder oil from its captured wells.

Sources say ISIS makes almost $30 million a month from such black market sales as the oil it sells is at less than half the global market rate. They add that the primary recipient of the cut-rate oil is Turkey itself.

The market price for a barrel of Brent Crude, as of the end of August, was some $102 a barrel.

However, ISIS is selling the oil from $25 to $60 a barrel. The sources say such sales haven’t affected global oil prices since much of the black market oil never leaves Turkey.

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Sources believe some of black market oil also stays in Iraq for internal use, while some of the supply goes to Iran via Kurdistan and to Syria’s local market.

The oil for Turkey goes through its southern region, which ISIS has already designated as a future part of its caliphate, encompassing northeastern Syria into western and central Iraq.

“Countries like Turkey have turned a blind eye to the practice, and international pressure should be mounted to close down black markets in its southern region,” said Lusay Al Khatteeb of the Brookings Doha Centre.

“The northern part of Iraq, southern Turkey and eastern Syria are known for smuggling historically,” Khatteeb said. “Earlier, these gangs used to smuggle goods. Now, they have evolved into oil trading.”

With the price far better than what energy-hungry Turkey now has to pay on the international market, Turkish officials are reluctant as well to turn off the vital source of oil.

Sources say ISIS currently controls some 60 percent of the oil fields in eastern Syria and seven oil fields and two refineries in Iraq.

The sources say the issue of the hostages also has prompted Turkey to deny a U.S. request to use Incirlik Air Base, where U.S. forces and aircraft are located as part of Turkey’s NATO commitment. Ankara has denied a U.S. request to use the base to launch jet fighters to bomb ISIS positions either in Syria or Iraq.

In addition, the issue of the Turkish hostages has prevented Turkish officials from closing down the border through which the bulk of foreign jihadist fighters continue infiltrating to join up with ISIS in Syria.

And any ISIS fighters arrested by Turkish police often are released without further action.

Fabius’ appeal to cut off ISIS funding also is aimed at getting such countries as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates to halt their funding of ISIS.

For the rest of this report, and much more, sign up now to see Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

F. Michael Maloof

F. Michael Maloof, contributing writer for national security affairs for WND and G2Bulletin, is a former senior security policy analyst in the office of the secretary of defense, and is author of "A Nation Forsaken." Read more of F. Michael Maloof's articles here.


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