Turkey Says ISIS No Longer a Systematic Threat but is Used by Other Countries

JAKARTA - The Islamic State (ISIS) extremist group no longer poses a systematic threat, but is currently being used by a number of countries for their political purposes, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkiye Hakan Fidan, Saturday, December 13.

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"ISIS is now weakened and does not pose a systematic threat... We do not deny that they are a threat that must be fought, but as a resistance group, we can say that the reaction to ISIS's actions is disproportionate to the threat posed by the group," said the Turkish Foreign Minister.

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"This is actually related to another goal. ISIS has become a convenient tool that everyone exploits," he added.

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"A handful of countries are using ISIS to pursue their political goals," he said, adding that ISIS was also exploited by former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

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When commenting on ISIS's attack on US and Syrian military in the Syrian city of Palmyra on Saturday (13/12), Fidan called it a form of "provocation."

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Earlier on the same day, the Pentagon said two US military members and one civilian translator were killed and three others were injured in an attack in Palmyra, Syria.

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According to a spokesman for the Syrian Ministry of the Interior, one of the ISIS members attacked military personnel in Palmyra.

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Palmira in Arabic is called Tadmur, a city that has had archaeological traces since the Neolithic era or the Early Stone Age.

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