Ya'alon: Turkey Sponsors Terrorism
JERUSALEM, Israel -- It's not the first time Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon has spoken out about Turkey, but he's now talking about its support of terrorism.
Speaking at the annual counter-terrorism conference at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center, Ya'alon said Turkey is emerging as a state sponsor of terrorism, providing logistical support to Hamas operations abroad.
"The command center of Hamas' overseas operations sits in Istanbul," Ya'alon told conference participants. "[Senior Turkish official] Saleh al-Arouri is the man sitting there," the Times of Israel quoted the defense minister.
Ya'alon said nations must ask themselves if they're willing to support terror-sponsoring regimes, such as Turkey. The former IDF chief of staff says the western world isn't ready to deal with the growing terror threat, but perhaps ISIS will help wake people up.
"The international system is not organized correctly to cope with terrorism," Ya'alon said, "but perhaps the IslamIC State could serve as a wake-up call."
Ya'alon also criticized the attacks against Israel during Operation Protective Edge.
"Is this how the free world prepares itself for the campaign against terrorism?" he asked.
Even Arab League member nations spoke out against ISIS, admonishing the world community to take the "necessary measures" to confront the Islamic State.
