French company’s support for Daesh a ‘crime’ against humanity, Turkey official says

A spokesman for Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Omer Celik, yesterday described the French cement company Lafarge’s support for Daesh as a “crime against humanity”.

Speaking at a press conference attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Celik said Lafarge has supported Daesh in the Syrian war with the French intelligence’s knowledge.

He explained that the French Supreme Court has paved the way for the company to be sued, and to examine allegations if the French internal, external and military intelligence had been informed of Lafarge’s relationship with Daesh.

Last week, Lafarge was accused of paying millions of dollars via a Syrian subsidiary and a middleman to militants, including the Daesh, to keep its cement factory in Jalabiya, northern Syria, during the early years of the Syrian civil war.

READ: Ex-boss of French firm charged with financing Daesh

The company has also been charged with financing terrorism and violating a EU embargo overpayments made to the Syrian subsidiary in 2013 and 2014.

Lafarge, which is now part of Swiss-listed Holcim, has admitted following its own internal investigation that its Syrian subsidiary paid armed groups to keep operations running after 2011 in the war-torn country. But it has rejected several charges against it in an investigation by French magistrates.