Turkey’s prime minister was caught shipping arms to ISIS in January, which may explain why the NATO ally shot down a Russian jet targeting ISIS militants on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu ordered a media blackout after the military’s Gendarmerie General Command discovered around 50 rockets, 35 crates of ammunition, including mortar rounds, and Douchka anti-aircraft ammunition hidden inside Syria-bound trucks operated by Turkey’s intelligence agency.

“The trucks were carrying weapons and supplies to the al-Qaeda terror organization,” a report by the Gendarmerie General Command stated, and it’s worth noting that ISIS is linked to al-Qaeda.

The Gendarmerie General Command and public prosecutor Aziz Takei ordered the search at the Turkey/Syria border after receiving a tip that the trucks were carrying weapons and explosives to al-Qaeda in Syria.

“While the trucks were being escorted to Seyhan Gendarmerie Command for an extensive search, MIT [Turkey’s intelligence agency] personnel accompanying the trucks in an Audi vehicle blocked the road to stop the trucks,” Taştekin wrote. “When MIT personnel seized the keys from the trucks’ ignitions, an altercation ensued.”

“MIT personnel instructed the truck drivers to pretend their trucks had malfunctioned and committed physical violence against gendarmerie personnel.”

“The governor of Adana, Huseyin Avni Cos, arrived at the scene and declared, ‘The trucks are moving with the prime minister’s orders’ and vowed not to let them be interfered with no matter what,” he continued. “With a letter of guarantee sent by the regional director of MIT, co-signed by the governor, the trucks were handed back to MIT.”

In response to the search, Davutoglu removed Takei from office and had 13 soldiers arrested and charged with espionage.

“Though the scandal is tearing the country apart, the government opted for its favorite tactic of covering it up,” Turkish journalist Fehim Taştekin reported. “A court in Adana banned written, visual and Internet media outlets from any reporting and commenting on the stopping of the trucks and the search.”

The Turkish government was also training ISIS militants to fight in Syria.

“…After training in Turkey, thousands of ISIS fighters went to Iraq by way of Syria to join the effort to establish an Islamic caliphate subject to strict Islamic law, or Shariah,” Aaron Klein of WND reported.

And ISIS militants roam around freely in Istanbul, Turkey, without fear of local authorities, emphasizing the support ISIS enjoys from the Davutoglu government.

The centuries-old conflict between Sunni and Shia Muslims and the trillions of dollars in potential oil and gas revenue in Syria are both key factors motivating the Sunni-dominated Davutoglu government to support ISIS in its proxy war to overthrow the Shia-dominated Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.

In 2011, Syria announced the discovery of a promising gas field in Homs, which, not surprisingly, became a battleground between Assad’s forces and ISIS, preventing Syria from fully tapping into the field.

Syria also rivals Turkey as one of the most strategic locations for natural gas pipelines to flow into Europe from Asia.

“Syria is the site of the proposed construction of a massive underground gas pipeline that, if completed, could drastically undercut the strategic energy power of U.S. ally Qatar and also would cut Turkey out of the pipeline flow,” Klein also reported. “Dubbed the ‘Islamic pipeline,’ the project may ultimately favor Russia and Iran against Western energy interests.”

But like the gas field in Homs, the construction of the nearly 3,500-mile pipeline has also been delayed by Syria’s war with ISIS.

This definitely helps Turkey, which views the proposed Islamic pipeline through Syria as a threat to its goal of becoming the main transit point for oil and gas flowing from East to West.

And NATO does not want Russia to benefit from a pipeline through Syria.

If the Davutoglu government can successfully use ISIS to topple Assad and install a puppet government in Syria, Turkey stands to gain trillions while also helping NATO isolate Russia.

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