ISIL gang members broadcast a video showing the immolation of two people it says are Turkish soldiers

Two Turkish soldiers that were identified as Sefer Taş and Fethi Şahin have reportedly been burnt to death by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) somewhere in northern Syria, according to a video that was published by the group late on 22 December.

In the 19-minute video, a Turkish-speaking militant identified as Ebu Hasan el-Türki addresses Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, threatening, “If you don’t withdraw your soldiers, the end of all of your soldiers will be like this.”

Taş, an ethnic Kurd from the eastern province of Îdir (Iğdır), was kidnapped by ISIL from the border in Kilis in September 2015. Şahin, a gendarme, was kidnapped late last month during a Turkish military advance in the al-Bab area north of Aleppo.

It could not be immediately confirmed whether the men seen being immolated in the video were indeed Taş and Şahin. The Turkish General Staff reportedly said the video was fake.

Mainstream Turkish news outlets avoided reporting news of the video in its entirety.

Late on 22 December, however, Turkish internet users reported a marked slowdown in the speed of access for sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube after the video began going viral online.

ISIL’s news agency, Amaq, also showed pictures on 22 December of a captured Turkish tank and Turkish military supplies.

The release of the video comes in the wake of the death of 16 Turkish soldiers as part of the Euphrates Shield Operation, which began in August. Turkish soldiers and a Syrian proxy army are currently battling for control of al-Bab.

There are two other Turkish soldiers currently believed to be in ISIL hands, staff sergeants Muhammed Duran Keskin and Kıvanç Kaşıkçı, who were kidnapped by the group on 29 November.

Sendika.Org