The Prez and the Commander

Speaking at an AKP convention in the province of Denizli, the Prez unashamedly said the following: “My dear brothers, I hosted a group from the FSA this week in my office and chatted with them. I was sorry for myself when I saw how committed they are in their beliefs and faith. One of them was among the [FSA] commanders [was] a very interesting [man]; his friends introduced him. They said, Mr. President, you know this man does not have a stomach. It turns out his stomach was removed because of bullet wounds. I asked him to lift up his undershirt. He pulled it up and there were stitch marks everywhere. Not only there [his abdomen], he also took bullets in his shoulder, back and all over his body. The PKK [or Kurdistan Workers’ Party] put a bounty on his head, yet he went back to the front after these surgeries . . . Thank God, he wears a Turkish flag on his shoulder”.¹ (AKP) convention in the western province Denizli.¹

1Abdullah Bozkurt, “COMMENTARY — Erdoğan touts al-Qaeda-linked militant as a role model in Turkey” SCF (15 April 2018). https://stockholmcf.org/commentary-erdogan-touts-al-qaeda-linked-militant-as-a-role-model-in-turkey/.