Turkish Minister warns ISIL: Don’t try Turkey’s patience

ANKARA

Forestry and Water Affairs Minister Veysel Eroğlu. AA Photo

Forestry and Water Affairs Minister Veysel Eroğlu on Aug. 12 warned the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) not to test Turkey’s patience, after the group accused Turkey of cutting off the flow of the Euphrates River, drying up northern Syria.

“Turkey is a country that does not surrender to such threats,” Eroğlu said, warning the Mosul Dam, which ISIL recently captured, could collapse at any time, while reminding that Turkey had offered to help the central government concerning the issue. “Consequently, ISIL shouldn’t bluff about threats. We have patience to a certain point,” he said.

ISIL’s “press officer” Abu Mosa told Vice News in Raqqa that Turkey should reconsider its decision to cut off the flow of the river. “If they don’t open [the Atatürk dam in Turkey, which is diverting the water], we’ll open it from Istanbul,” he said in the documentary.