Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Sibel Edmonds: Official Docs Confirm Major Criminal Investigations of Turkish Operatives in Chicago

I have a new article over at Sibel Edmonds' place, Boiling Frogs Post, discussing a new FBI FOIA release regarding one of the Chicago-based Turkish organizations that Sibel has been talking about for years.

The sub-title is "Newly Released FBI Documents Support Explosive Claims by Former FBI Translator Sibel Edmonds."

The article begins thusly:
Recently released FBI documents prove the existence of highly sensitive National Security and criminal investigations of "Turkish Activities" in Chicago prior to September 11, 2001. These documents add further support to many of the allegations that former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds has been claimed, in public and in Congress, since 2002. The documents were released under a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request into an organization called the Turkish American Cultural Alliance (TACA), an organization repeatedly named by Ms. Edmonds as being complicit in the crimes that she became aware of when she was a translator at the FBI.

The documents released under FOIA are almost completely redacted, but they do support many of Edmonds’ claims, including:

1. There was a number of very serious FBI investigations into "Turkish activity in Chicago" involving a number of targets, including TACA
2. These investigations were related to "National Security" among other things.
3. These investigations were regarded as so sensitive that no files were to be uploaded to FBI's computer system.
4. Congressional corruption was involved.
5. The FBI repeatedly conducted actual "physical surveillance" against Turkish and American targets.
6. Some of these investigations were shut down in 2001.

I asked Ms Edmonds for a response to these new documents. She replied:
"Finally! I've been saying this for years, and now we finally have documented proof from the FBI of this Turkish criminal activity based in Chicago.

This is fantastic, but even this is only the tip of the iceberg. The main question is this: Why has the White House and the State Dept been so determined to shut these investigations down? They shut down these investigations at the FBI, they shut me down with the State Secrets Privilege.

What are they hiding? Chicago was the center of it all, Chicago was the center of the foreign espionage activity, and the center for money laundering, and also a major heroin distribution center. Celebi was a key player, but Dennis Hastert, Mayor Daley, Robert Creamer and other US officials also helped facilitate these activities. When will we see some accountability?"
This is great news for all of us who have been following Sibel's case through the years. See Boiling Frogs Post for the full article.

(Completely independent of the above news, Boiling Frogs Post is currently in fund-raising mode. Boiling Frogs Post is a fantastic site, and the objective is: "To establish a venue for investigative articles, editorials, analyses, discussions, and interviews on issues largely censored and blacked out by the media." I strongly suggest that you frequent Boiling Frogs Post, and contribute to the fund-raiser if you like what you see there.)

1 comment:

J said...

What's with Schakowsky and shorebank? Maybe they are funding these groups ?