All ISIL members should be burned if claims on Turkish soldiers are true: MHP leader

ANKARA

All members of the jihadist terrorist organization should be burned if video released by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) showing two Turkish soldiers being burned alive is true, Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party said in a party meeting over the weekend. 

“If this atrocious video going around on social media is true, then all these bloody-handed ISIL terrorists, inside and outside [Turkey] should be wiped out,” he said. 

A video released by ISIL last week showed two men dressed in Turkish military uniforms being set on fire. The video went viral on social media and caused public outrage, while the Turkish Armed Forces still hasn’t issued a confirmation.  

Opposition parties have called on the government to issue a statement, while Defense Minister Fikri Işık said they can only confirm that three Turkish soliders were currently in the hands of ISIL. 

“Is this video true? What is the latest about our soldiers who are being held hostage by ISIL?” Bahçeli asked, and said “al-Bab should be demolished on these inglorious terrorists.” 

Operation must continue 

Expressing his sorrow over martyred soldiers in the ongoing Euphrates Shield Operation to capture al-Bab from ISIL, Bahçeli said the operation must certainly continue and “be crowned with victory.”

“We have no eye in any country’s territories. But terrorist organizations being harbored in Iraq and Syria are posing threat to Turkey. That’s why we should win in al-Bab. If we return empty-handed from al-Bab, I should underline with importance that we will put Diyarbakır and Ankara in jeopardy,” he said.