Yılmaz, a Dutch man with Turkish roots, has appeared in the media for his involvement in training Syrian fighters
Yılmaz (centre) with Mohammed el-Araj and Choukri Ellekhlifi
A TURKISH man with Dutch nationality has been training British insurgents before they fight in the war in Syria, it has emerged.
The man, whose surname is known to be “Yılmaz”, prefers to go by the name “Chechclear”, a reference to a web video that shows the brutal decapitation of a Russian soldier by Chechen rebels.
Interviewed by Dutch journalist Roozbeh Kaboly for Holland’s Newshour programme, Yilmaz denied he posed a threat to people in the West.
“I didn’t come to Syria to learn how to make bombs, or this or that and to go back. That’s not the mentality many of these fighters here have. We came here — basically, and I know it sounds harsh, but many of the brothers here, including myself, we came here to die…. So, us going back is not part of our perspective here. I mean it’s a big sacrifice and there’s a lot of work to do, so why should I even think about Holland or Europe?”
“Over 90% of the people over here have never fired a bullet in their lives, let alone participated on a battlefield,” he said. “But they are fighting for a noble cause.”
In a photograph that appears on Instagram, Yilmaz poses with Mohammed el-Araj, from Ladbroke Grove, and Choukri Ellekhlifi, who was part of a gang which carried out a series of robberies in Belgravia. Sentenced to six years in jail in 2013, he skipped bail and fled to Syria, where he met Yilmaz.