During a meeting with members of US Congress, King Abdullah of Jordan allegedly said that sending terrorists to Europe is 'part of Turkish policy'

Jordan's King Abdullah believes that Turkey is deliberately exporting terrorists to Europe. (He's not the only one.)

The king's comments were made during a January meeting with members of US Congress, and were only recently revealed by the Middle East Eye. According to reports, Abdullah didn't mince words:

Is Turkey the host of a Gladio-style NATO operation? The monarch...said that Islamist militants were being "manufactured in Turkey" and "unleashed" into Europe. He also used the debriefing, held after a cancelled rendezvous with US President Barack Obama, to remind the US politicians of Turkey's alleged complicity in buying Isis oil. “The fact that terrorists are going to Europe is part of Turkish policy," said King Abdullah. "Turkey keeps on getting a slap on the hand, but they are let off the hook.” Arguing that the autocratic Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan believes in a “radical Islamic solution to the region", King Abdullah said.

We have a sneaking suspicion that Abdullah wasn't expecting his comments to be picked up by the press: After his accusations were published, Jordan's government spokesman issued a non-denial denial:

"Turkey-Jordan relations are historic and based on mutual respect principle," said the Jordanian government spokesman, adding that these claims could not impact the relation between the two countries. "This kind of news is devoid of the minimum of vocational professionalism," Mumuni added.

Of course, we'll never know for sure, but it's doubtful that the Middle East Eye -- which has an excellent track record, in our opinion -- would make up such a story, especially considering how detailed the report is (they also claim Abdullah told Congress members about "a tense stand-off between Turkish, Israeli and Russian war planes"; why bother fabricating something like that when the claims about Turkey exporting terrorism are already so provocative?)

And frankly speaking, Abdullah's claims don't sound too far-fetched to us. Erdogan has cleverly used the threats posed by mass migration and terrorism to blackmail the European Union. Just four days before the Brussels attacks, he made the following remarks:

"there is no reason why the bomb that exploded in Ankara cannot explode in Brussels, in any other European city." "The snakes you are sleeping with can bite you any time," he added.

And of course, Erdogan's direct and indirect ties to the Islamic extremists terrorizing Syria have been well-documented.

But Erdogan is likely just an accessory to the crime. According to reports, "Turkey warned Belgium and the Netherlands that [the Brussels bomber] was a militant". This provides perfect cover for both Ankara and Brussels: Turkey "warned" the EU about the militant that they were deliberately sending to the Netherlands, but "police negligence" allowed the militant to remain in Europe. An honest mistake with no malicious intent from either party.

We don't buy it. To us this sounds like a classic Gladio-style NATO operation. For those unfamiliar with Gladio:

Operation Gladio was a clandestine NATO/CIA "stay-behind" operation in Europe during the Cold War. It was originally conceived (or so we are told) as an armed resistance group in the event of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe. The invasion never came, so Gladio's mission was slightly changed to "let's bomb public buildings, and then blame the Communists." The existence of Gladio was confirmed and admitted by the Italian government in 1990, after a judge, Felice Casson, discovered the clandestine network during his investigations into right-wing terrorism. In 1992, the BBC made a long, depressing documentary about this brilliant, bomb-tastic "strategy of tension"

Abdullah might deny that he said that Erdogan is deliberately "'unleashing" terrorists into Europe -- but it's completely consistent with tactics that NATO has previously used to keep Europe in line.

As Erdogan warned Europe: "The snakes you are sleeping with can bite you any time".