Turkey may have reinforced its border controls on the Syrian frontier in recent months but the consequences of its previously laissez-faire attitude towards anti-Assad Islamist fighters are starting to catch up.<\/p>\n
Confirmation of the three British teenage schoolgirls\u2019 arrival in Syria after flying to Turkey last week showed that individuals intending to join the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) are still able to cross the border with relative ease.<\/p>\n
The BBC\u2019s James Reynolds spoke<\/a> to a people smuggler who told him how the girls were transported into Syria and how ISIS militants were able to receive new recruits at the Turkish border.<\/p>\n The three teenagers, Shamima Begum and Amira Abase, 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, travelled from London to Istanbul on 17th<\/sup> February. According to Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc , the British authorities did not inform Turkey\u00a0of their arrival in time.\u00a0 Insisting that Turkey should not be held responsible in any way, Mr Arinc claimed it was entirely the fault of the British side. \u201c”It is a reprehensible act for Britain, a country famous for its Scotland Yard, to let the three girls leave Heathrow Airport for Istanbul and then let us know three days later,”\u00a0 Bulent Arinc\u00a0 said.<\/p>\n Scotland Yard has denied that they took three days to inform Turkey. The Metropolitan Police statement said they began working with Turkish authorities the day after the teenagers were reported missing.\u00a0 \u201cOnce we established that the girls had travelled to Turkey, police made contact with the foreign liaison officer at the Turkish Embassy in London on February 18th<\/sup>,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n Prime Minister David Cameron has also denied Mr Arinc\u2019s claim, telling Parliament what the Turkish deputy prime minister had said about a three-day delay was not accurate.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, British authorities acknowledge the need to review existing procedures and tighten arrangements on their borders. Prime Minister David Cameron has asked the home and transport secretaries to examine all the protocols they have in place.<\/p>\n In coming days, both Turkish diplomats and the national airline will be under the spotlight. The House of Commons home affairs select committee has invited the Turkish ambassador Abdurrahman Bilgic and Turkish Airlines chief executive Temel Kotil to give evidence on the 10th<\/sup> of March. The home affairs select committee chairman, Keith Vaz\u00a0 was critical of Turkish Airlines. He described at least four young and unaccompanied girls flying to Turkey on their way to reach ISIS without the airline alerting British authorities ass \u201cshocking\u201d.<\/p>\n According to a senior diplomatic\u00a0source that I have spoken to, these select committee hearings where an ambassador\u00a0 is invited to give first-hand information are not that unusual. Two of Turkey\u2019s most successful ambassadors\u00a0 in London, Ozdem Sanberk and Unal Cevikoz\u00a0 were able to put their governments\u2019 views on highly contentious issues such as immigration, asylum and human trafficking in a clear and accurate way by appearing in these hearings.<\/p>\n It is very likely that Ambassador Bilgic will have a harder time to convince an increasingly sceptical cross-party group of British MPs.\u00a0 The UK has been one of the staunchest supporters of Turkey within the European Union but Turkey\u2019s rapid slide into authoritarianism has been noted in London, both in government circles and, if the\u00a0recent strongly-worded criticisms are anything to go by, in the British\u00a0 media.<\/p>\n