Erdogan accused France of Supporting Terrorism in Syria

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that France is a major supporter of Terrorism in Syria, through the “Lafarge Cement” company, which was accused of financing ISIS in northern Syria during 2013 and 2014.

This came in a speech by President Erdogan before a crowd in the city of Aydin, western Türkiye, in light of the promotional campaign for the municipal elections throughout the country.

Erdogan explained, “We know that there are imperialist powers that want to rule Türkiye as they please… While we were fighting the tools inside us, we fought the real battle against them… We buried the terrorists in caves… As you can see, they left”.

The Turkish President continued, “On the other hand, the French cement producer came to Türkiye (the French Lafarge factory) and contributed to building caves for terrorists… It’s unfortunate that France has become the main supporter of terrorism in Syria, but what did Turkey do? I buried all their dens in northern Syria”.

Erdogan added, “While our government was working to strengthen the Turkish economy and its growth, the percentage of conspiracies against us increased, and who knows what they would have done to us without the Covid epidemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war”.

Last February, the French Anti-Terrorism Public Prosecution requested a first trial on charges of “financing terrorism” against the cement company Lafarge against the backdrop of its activities in Syria until 2014.

Agence France-Presse, citing a source familiar with the case, said that among the 9 people whom the prosecution is requesting to be tried is the company’s former CEO, CEO Bruno Lafont.

It’s suspected that the company, which is now affiliated with the Holcim Group, paid millions of euros to jihadist groups during the years 2013 and 2014, through its Syrian subsidiary, Lafarge Cement Syria.

According to the source, the company paid money to the “Islamic State” (ISIS), through intermediaries, in order to continue operating its cement factory in Syria in the Jalabiya area at a time when the country was immersed in the furnace of war.

According to sources familiar with the case, Lafarge provided these funds with the aim of using them, or with the knowledge that they were intended to be used, in whole or in part, to commit terrorist acts.

The prosecution specifically considers that former CEO Bruno Lafont approved the strategy used to maintain the activity of the cement factory, while knowing the funding distributed to terrorist groups.

In mid-January, the Court of Cassation in France finally confirmed the charges against the Lafarge Cement Company for complicity in crimes against humanity against the backdrop of supposed payments to jihadist groups during the war in Syria, making another trial possible, this time before the French courts specializing in crimes.

As part of a judicial investigation that began in 2017, the company was charged in 2018 with “complicity in crimes against humanity, financing a terrorist project, and endangering the lives of others”.