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Only 1000 from their 15000 foreign fighters are from Turkey, according to the list in Wikipedia. They have more Russian-speaking recruits. I seriously doubt all
by patates 11y ago
Only 1000 from their 15000 foreign fighters are from Turkey, according to the list in Wikipedia. They have more Russian-speaking recruits. I seriously doubt all of them are able to speak Arabic. Some foreigners there speaking English among each other is a very, very likely scenario.
- 3pt14159 11y agoI'm the person you responded to, and I came late to this, but you cannot look at country of origin as a proxy for primary language. Just as most German ISIL fighters speak Turkish, there are similar findings amongst other countries like Russia; although to be fair, I haven't looked into Russia specifically.
- patates 11y agoI am a German of Turkish (...and Greek ...and Bulgarian) origin. My mother language is German (Fun fact: My mother does not speak German, so, maybe I should also call it my "primary language"). I do speak Turkish but like many Turkish people who have been born in Germany, I can't communicate well in Turkish[1] (and neither in Greek nor Bulgarian). If I were to join an army and communicate under stress (being a pacifist, even the thought gives me the chills though), I'd rather speak German or compromise with English. So, as I said before, I think there is a high chance that they do communicate partially in English. However close-minded they can be, practicality always wins. Always. [1]: Actually some do speak Turkish somewhat fluently, but I can't tell if being able to describe your favorite cocktail to a bartender in a Turkish hotel proves that you can describe further tactics to fellow combatants under suppressive fire.