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2014-01-19 The Grand Turk
Turkish Police Detain 28 In Anti-Al-Qaeda Op, Raid On İHH Office
[Hurriyet] Turkish police have detained 28 people in an operation into al-Qaeda held simultaneously in six provinces on Jan. 14, followed by the dismissal of a police brass hat in Kilis following raids on a local Humanitarian Relief Foundation (İHH) branch.
Prime Minister Erdogan has turned against his pet terror group? These are the lads who organized those flotillas to force open Israel's Gaza embargo when Erdogan decided to up Turkey's posturing in an attempt to take over the leadership of the Muslim Middle East.
The simultaneous operations were conducted in six provinces including Istanbul, Van, Kilis, Adana, Gaziantep and Kayseri.

One person was detained in Kilis during the rain on İHH while a total of five people were detained in southern provinces of Adana and Gaziantep yesterday.

Police have detained 18 people in the southeastern province of Van and another suspect was detained in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri as part of operations into al-Qaeda.

Three people have been detained by anti-terror police in Bağcılar, Fatih and Küçükçekmece districts in the Istanbul leg of the operation. The suspects were sent to Van, according to the reports.

Anti-terror police coming from the eastern province of Van searched the main office of the İHH and its depot and one person from the relief organization was detained, Doğan news agency reported.

Two anti-terror unit heads dismissed

Only a few hours after the raids, two anti-terror police unit chiefs who were among the teams who planned and carried out the operation have been dismissed.

Both Kilis province anti-terror department chief Devlet Çıngı and Van province anti-terror department chief Serdar Bayraktutan were relocated by a sudden decision from the respective Governor's Office with which they are affiliated.

The Interior Ministry had previously responded raids conducted as part of graft investigation by orchestrating a massive purge within the police department.

İHH condemns raids

The İHH released an official press statement Jan. 14 concerning the raid, with General Secretary Yaşar Kutluay saying the operation was aimed at preventing the İHH from sending humanitarian aid to Syria.

"They are trying to show the İHH as if it is related to terror organizations," Kutluay said, claiming that the operation was an "attack" on the NGO, which is said to be the biggest organization in Turkey sending aid to Syria.

One of the İHH's lawyers, Uğur Yıldırım, said the Justice Ministry ordered two prosecutors to launch an investigation into the coppers who conducted the search.

However,
ars longa, vita brevis...
 Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ has refuted the claim, saying the ministry has no authority or duty to send prosecutors to any place.

Yıldırım added that the raid was a part of an operation first launched in 2012 within the terms of the anti-terror law, targeting only one man who had been working at İHH for nine months.

A search warrant was issued for that individual and the court had been given the Kilis İHH office as his home address, Yıldırım claimed, adding that the man actually had a home address where he lived with his family.

All computers at the office were seized by police, Yıldırım added.

İHH Syria coordinator Serkan Öktem, however, said the police returned the computers it seized from the branch after examining them in the police department.

The press coordinator of the NGO, Serkan Nergis, also commented on the raid via his Twitter account, saying that police forces had been conducting a search that was against the law.

"Police units started to search the office after taking our personnel out without waiting for our lawyers to arrive," Nergis said.

The İHH, an NGO which bases its humanitarian relief action on Islamic principles, was the operator of the Mavi Marmara and one of the main organizers of the Gazoo Flotilla in May 2010.
The Free Beacon recalls for us the IHH's previous little adventures.
"It is puzzling that IHH has not already been designated," the Foundation for Defense of Democracy's (FDD) Schanzer wrote in 2010. "The group advertises the fact that it is a participating member of the Saudi-based umbrella organization Union of Good (Ittilaf al-Kheir in Arabic). On Nov. 12, 2008, Treasury listed the Union as a terrorist entity, stating that the group was 'created by Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, leadership to transfer funds to the terrorist organization.'"

The IHH has been tied to the top Death Eaters in these organizations and further accused of playing a key role in terror attacks.

"French magistrate Jean-Louis Brougière testified in 2001 that IHH had an 'important role' in Ahmed Ressam's failed 'millennium plot' to bomb the Los Angeles airport in late 1999," according to Schanzer. "Brougiere added that the Turkish IHH was 'basically helping al Qaeda when [Osama] bin Laden started to want to target U.S. soil.'"

Germany additionally banned IHH in 2010, while the Israelis banned it in 2002 and then again in 2008.
Posted by trailing wife 2014-01-19 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11144 views ]  Top
 File under: Indian Mujaheddin 

#1 Is that the time for congressional debates on US aid again?
Posted by g(r)omgoru 2014-01-19 04:14||   2014-01-19 04:14|| Front Page Top

#2 the Israelis banned it in 2002 and then again in 2008.

Musta left outa comma or a dependent clause first get go.
Posted by Shipman 2014-01-19 09:32||   2014-01-19 09:32|| Front Page Top

#3 Some possibles, in order of decreasing probability:

1. The IHH has become a political liability to Erdogan and the AKP; this is essentially a "removal of the Brown Shirts."

2. Erdogan and the AKP are trying to remove any form of organized opposition after being hit with the corruption scandal.

3. The IHH is tied in with the AKP's former allies turned bitter rivals, the Gulenists.

4. The IHH is funded by the Saudis. Since Iran is becoming the new best friend with Erdogan's government, the IHH is a liability.
Posted by Pappy 2014-01-19 10:29||   2014-01-19 10:29|| Front Page Top

#4 I'll take 2.) for twenty bucks, Johnny!
Posted by Fred 2014-01-19 12:13||   2014-01-19 12:13|| Front Page Top

#5 I should have added this from the Free Beacon article as well:

Turkish police searched an IHH storage facility located near the Syrian border where the group has been suspected of smuggling arms, according to reports.

Less than two weeks before Tuesday’s raid, Turkish police stopped a truck “laden with weapons” on the Syrian border. Under questioning, the driver claimed he was carrying “aid on behalf” of IHH, according to al Arabiya.

“The operation was aimed at preventing the İHH from sending humanitarian aid to Syria,” the group claimed in a statement, Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News reported.

I think at least a piece of the motivation is PM Erdogan's determination to remove his former BFF Assad the Younger from power. I also like #2, but doesn't #4 clash with the Saudis support of Turkey's economy ?
Posted by trailing wife 2014-01-19 12:32||   2014-01-19 12:32|| Front Page Top

#6 TW, my brain hurts trying to reconcile "I think at least a piece of the motivation is PM Erdogan's determination to remove his former BFF Assad the Younger from power" with a) his desire to ally with Iran, which is one of Assad the Younger's two primary sponsors.
Posted by Thing From Snowy Mountain 2014-01-19 13:33||   2014-01-19 13:33|| Front Page Top

#7 It does, but keep in mind that Turkey is now playing nice with groups it wouldn't have dealt with a couple of years ago. The pipeline with the Iraqi Kurds, for example. Or receiving Iranian delegations.

Erdogan's AKP-government was thwarted when its ideological ally MB in Egypt was overthrown; the Saudis were opposed to the MB. The Saudis may still be supporting Turkey's economy, but I suspect the AKP would like to dilute that support.
Posted by Pappy 2014-01-19 13:33||   2014-01-19 13:33|| Front Page Top

#8 I'll take option #3...
Posted by Steve White 2014-01-19 15:23||   2014-01-19 15:23|| Front Page Top

#9 #2 and part of #3. I have no sympathy for IHH, who helped organize and fund the gaza flotillas
Posted by Frank G 2014-01-19 15:44||   2014-01-19 15:44|| Front Page Top

#10 I think Turkey getting buddybuddy with Iran is part of their strategy to lead the Sunni world, in opposition to Saudi and the Gulf states.

Erdogan is moving against real or suspected Saudi supporters at home.

If Assad wins in Syria, then Jordan is at risk from an Iran funded Paleo rebellion. If it happens and succeeds then oil and gas pipelines from the Arab Gulf are blocked and Turkey becomes the route for Iranian oil and gas at substantially higher prices.

The next few tears will be interesting, especially if Erdogan loses elections.
Posted by phil_b 2014-01-19 17:16||   2014-01-19 17:16|| Front Page Top

#11 this could simply be a way to extort money from the IHH to vips in Turkey
Posted by lord garth 2014-01-19 19:01||   2014-01-19 19:01|| Front Page Top

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