Turkey removes jihadist Hekmetyar from terror list
In light of latest developments regarding Afghanistan’s jihadist Hizb-i Islam, Turkey has removed the group, whose leader is jihadist Gulbiddin Hekmetyar, from its terror list.
Announced in Turkey’s Official Gazette (Resmi Gazete), the decision was taken by President Erdoğan and the Council of Ministers.
Earlier in February this year, UN Security Council had decided to remove Hekmetyar from its list ‘concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities’, allowing for the sanctions against him – assets freeze; travel ban; and arms embargo – to be lifted as well.
Commonly referred to as the ‘Butcher of Kabul’, pardoning of Hekmetyar by the Afghani government back in 2016 had received protests in the country and been criticized firmly by human rights groups.
In reaction to Turkey’s decision, which was taken by the president Erdoğan and the Council of Ministers, main opposition party CHP’s İstanbul MP Mahmut Tanal shared a message from his personal twitter account saying: ‘So, is this how fighting terror is?’
An old photograph of Turkey’s current president Erdoğan with jihadist warlord Hekmetyar, where Erdoğan is seen as kneeling down next to the warlord, had also been reacted against before.