The outgoing Turkish ambassador to
Nigeria, Mustafa Pulat, has said that Turkey does not stop the son of a
former Chief Justice of Nigeria who crossed the Turkish border to join
the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria terrorists in Syria in February
2015, because there was no information on the suspect.
Pulat explained that the suspected jihadist was issued a visa because he had strong credentials and references.
The envoy said this while responding to questions from journalists in Abuja on Tuesday.
He explained that the Turkish mission in
Nigeria cooperated with security agencies when approached over
suspicions that the former CJN’s son had gone to join terrorists in
Syria.
Pulat, however, added that “there is an
ongoing international cooperation to stop other foreigners who may want
to join the ISIS jihadists,” noting that electronic optical control
system had been installed at the borders to track smugglers and
prospective militants.
He said, “Turkey doesn’t know potential
of militants but relies on signals from the concerned countries to take
action against potential militants. Security agencies approached the
embassy on the Nigerian that went to Syria and we extended the necessary
cooperation to them.
“The
Nigerian was given visa because he came with strong credentials and
references and there was no information on him, so he was issued the
tourist visa, but we are cooperating with security agencies on the
matter. We couldn’t track foreigners going to Syria (to join ISIS)
because Turkey is a large country with wide borders.”
Pulat, who has ended his tenure in
Nigeria, stated that the ideology behind radicalism and terrorism needed
to be understood in order to uproot the phenomenon.
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