Jokowi Suspects Missing Indonesians Have Joined ISIS in Syria
9 March 2015 15:18 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo said he had yet to receive further updates on the 16 Indonesians who had gone missing in Turkey. The president said the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), and related state officials were looking into the case.
“I suspect they have gone to Syria,” the president said at the Halim Perdanakusuma Airbase in Jakarta before leaving for Aceh on Monday, Sunday 8, 2015. “I will let you know if there are more developments,” he said.
Earlier, the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) suspected the Indonesians had entered Syrian territory.
"We cannot confirm this yet, but most likely they have joined ISIS,” BNPT enforcement and aptitude development head Insp. Gen. Arief Dharmawan told Tempo on Sunday, March 8, 2015.
Arief said the agency would immediately furnish the central government with suggestions, and that it would trace any information related to the whereabouts of the Indonesians. Arief explained the BNPT had already had ties with the Turkish government and its anti-terror agency.
Arief added the BNPT since 2013 had warned the government about the possibility of Indonesians entering Syria to join ISIS. Aried said Turkey was among the countries from which one could easily access Syria.
“And the easiest way to go to Turkey is by using tourist visas, and then they enter Syria,” he said.
MUHAMMAD MUHYIDDIN | INDRA WIJAYA