The founder of an organization that trained the Syrian volunteer group of emergency response called the White Helmets has been found dead near his house in Istanbul, according to a Reuters report on Monday.
Former British Army officer James Gustaf Edward Le Mesurier’s body was reportedly discovered by his neighbor and a diplomat early on Monday near his house in central Istanbul’s Beyoglu district.
Reuters quoted the diplomat as saying that the circumstances around Le Mesurier’s death were unclear.
According to a news report by Tugay Saday from the Turkish Sozcu daily, sources from the Istanbul Police Department consider the possibility based on preliminary findings that Le Mesurier either fell or committed suicide by jumping from the third-floor balcony.
During the Syrian Civil War in 2014, Le Mesurier founded the not-for-profit organization called Mayday Rescue Foundation.
It has offices in Amsterdam and Istanbul and projects that have been funded by the United Nations and various governments.
The organization’s main role has been to train the White Helmets group, officially known as Syria Civil Defence (SCD), whose activities include medical evacuation, urban search, and rescue in response to the bombing, evacuation of civilians from danger areas and essential service delivery.
The SCD has been credited with saving thousands of people in rebel-held areas during years of bombing by the Syrian government and Russian forces in the country’s civil war.
Both the former British Army officer and the Syrian White Helmets have been targets of a sustained disinformation campaign waged by supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian-backed media outlets with claims linking them with terrorist activities.
Just three days before his death, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova publicly accused Le Mesurier of having “connections to terrorists.”
Zakharova claimed on Friday that he was a “former agent of Britain’s MI6, who has been spotted all around the world”.
“His connections to terrorist groups were reported back during his mission in Kosovo,” she added.
#Zakharova: The White Helmets’ co-founder, James Le Mesurier, is a former agent of Britain’s MI6, who has been spotted all around the world, including in the #Balkans and the #MiddleEast. His connections to terrorist groups were reported back during his mission in #Kosovo. pic.twitter.com/Fa7JTuP39Z
— MFA Russia
(@mfa_russia) November 8, 2019
The spokeswoman further alleged that the White Helmets “stage provocations, help most dangerous terrorist groups and resist the counter-terrorist efforts of the Syrian government-assisted by other countries.”
Zakharova elaborated that the group “planned and carried out a series of ruthless fake chemical attacks.”
#Zakharova: The White Helmets stage provocations, help most dangerous terrorist groups and resist the counterterrorist efforts of the Syrian government assisted by other countries. They have planned and carried out a series of ruthless fake chemical attacks. #Syria #Russia pic.twitter.com/ePuiEsb558
— MFA Russia
Turkish officials reveal contact between warring Ankara and Syria
The post British founder of Syrian White Helmets found dead in Istanbul appeared first on IPA NEWS.
from IPA NEWS https://ipa.news/2019/11/11/british-founder-of-syrian-white-helmets-found-dead-in-istanbul/
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