Shortly after the Islamic State’s (IS’s) leader was killed in a Syrian hideout near the Turkish border, a leaked report by Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) revealed details about how the jihadi group used the country to traffic money and obtain supplies, including drone parts.
The March 8, 2021, report by the MASAK, a body attached to Turkey’s Treasury and Finance Ministry, indicates that IS members acquired equipment and parts to make drones and improvised explosive devices with the help of companies set up in Turkey, and used exchange offices, jewelry shops, post offices and banks to transfer money. Furthermore, it reveals that some IS-linked individuals investigated by the MASAK have acquired Turkish citizenship.
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The 279-page document, obtained by Al-Monitor, was first reported by journalist Bahadir Ozgur in the daily BirGun last week and has since made it to parliament’s agenda.
The most striking details pertain to the activities of three companies set up by the Aleppo-born Ibrahim Hag Gneid in Turkey’s southern province of Mersin in 2014 and 2016. The companies — Altun Inci, Mavi Yelken and Elfarah — were registered as businesses dealing in construction materials, industrial supplies and hardware.
