Not even a single investigation over a jihadist publication
Although security offices in Turkey do realize that the jihadists in Turkey are organized through a periodical they publish, distribution of this publication still continues. Furthermore, the names of the directors of this publication, İslam Dünyası (Islamic World), are same as those that appeared in the 2012 Al-Qaeda bill of indictment.
ZEYNEP YÜNCÜLER yunculerzeynep@gmail.com
@yunculerzeynep
Islamic groups that are directly affiliated with jihadist organizations are able to publish something in Turkey easily and get organized through this. One of those publications is the periodical Islamic World, which reveal how jihadists assemble and get organized. And, the directors of this publication are the same people whose names were listed in the Al-Qaeda bill of indictment in 2012.
A platform to aid Al-Qaeda
In the bill of indictment, it is mentioned that certain requests of the periodical’s Ankara representative Ömer Belül, made on 16 November 2012, were examined, and, they were noted down as a call to create an ‘aid platform’ for the Al-Qaeda camps in Syria. It is also stated in the bill that Fatih Ziya Tunç, Mehmet Akif Akcan and Yusuf Aslan actively support these kinds of activities and keep close contact with the GARİP-DER (Association of Humanitarian Aid for the Needy) in İstanbul. Visits of Yusuf Aslan and Mehmet Akif Akcan to GARİP-DER between 30 January and 1 February in 2012 to hold talks with the active members of the association are also indicated in the same bill of indictment.
Been active on the Al-Nusra front
Indictment also includes statements regarding the active position of Belül, the Ankara representative of the periodical Islamic World. Following are the relevant statements:
“After the examinations of Ömer Belül’s tapes (Tapes 154, 153, 149, 150), dated as 13 December 2012, it has been understood that he is active in Al-Qaeda terorist organization’s Syria group, the Nusret Front; that there have been contacts between the individuals who had gone to Syria from our city in order to carry jihad and the individuals who continue being active in our city regarding the Nusret Front. Lastly, it’s been noted that the groups that are related with Nusret Front, which carries activities in Syria, have been listed as terrorist gropus by the USA and this was also reported on Vahdet news source.”
Recruitment of members to the group
The publisher and the chief editor of the Islamic World Osman Akyıldız is also reported in the indictment as having started a joint effort with Belül in order to meet the demand of Al-Qaeda and recruit members to the organization by also enabling their illegal entry to Syria.