New Evidence Emerges Linking Tahşiyeciler To Al-Qaeda

A man who filed a complaint against journalists, producers and scriptwriters for defaming the militant group known as Tahşiyeciler (Annotators), which led to the detention of media professionals last week, has now been revealed to have maintained active links with al-Qaeda groups in Turkey.

Mehmet Nuri Turan, a suspected member of the radical Tahşiyeciler group, whose compliant formed the basis of the public prosecutor's charges against prominent journalists last week, is also connected to the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist organization Ceyş-ul Mehdi, which was led by Habib Akdaş, according to an intelligence document.

According to the document sent by the Gendarmarie General Command to the police on Oct. 4, 2012, the military informed the police that Turan established a link with a man known to be an al-Qaeda financier.

According to the document, a man identified as Cengiz Yıldırım, who operates within the Ceyş-ul Mehdi group, offered financial support to Turan in a meeting held in İstanbul on Sept. 25, 2012 in order to expand the network and join forces with other militant groups.

The document provides proof that Turan, who had been released pending the trial on Tahşiyeciler group, maintained links with other al-Qaeda groups operating in Turkey.

During the operation targeting the Tahşiyeciler group on Jan. 22, 2010, police raided the homes and offices of 112 people across Turkey and discovered three hand grenades, one smoke bomb, seven handguns, 18 hunting rifles, electronic parts for explosives, knives and a large cache of ammunition.

Then-İstanbul Governor Muammer Güler issued a statement at the time of the raids saying that Tahşiyeciler is “a radical, religious terrorist organization believed to be affiliated with the al-Qaeda terrorist network.”

“We learned that some of the members of the organization who were apprehended had traveled abroad through legal or illegal means and stayed in places which were known as jihad zones. Members who were sent to these jihad zones were trained in the forests, where they were provided with military training,” he said.

“We also know that some members who were detained during this operation were linked to Louai Sakka, al-Qaeda's representative for Europe, Turkey and Syria, as well as with Habib Aktaş, who was involved in a bomb attacks that took place [in İstanbul] between Nov. 15 and 20, 2003, and who later died in Iraq,” Güler stated at the time.

Both Mehmet Doğan and Turan were released on May 29, 2011 after their convictions were overturned on an appeal over procedural violations, and their cases are pending a retrial. The Turkish military police's surveillance identified Turan's network with the al-Qaeda-linked Ceyş-ul Mehdi group that carried out the deadly 2003 attacks on the British consulate, HSBC headquarters and two synagogues in İstanbul, killing more than 60 people.

The Ceyş-ul Mehdi was led by Habip Akdaş, who killed in a US airstrike in Iraq after the bombing took place. The group is now led by Halis Bayancuk, also known as Abu Hanzala, who was detained during raids in January this year along with dozens of others, but he was let go in October after no indictment was prepared against him. It is unclear why the prosecutor's office did not indict him though several others have already been charged.

False claim of police planting evidence

The claim by Turan that police planted bombs during the raid on the Tahşiyeciler group's safe houses in 2010 was also refuted.

According to the footage aired on pro-government TV station T24, it was seen that a police officer who was handling the plastic bag that included hand grenades had ripped gloves. The police officer was seen later replacing the ruptured gloves with a new ones but in the meantime the prints of the police officer were transferred onto the bag.

The police already reported at the time of the raids that one officer initially handled the evidence with ripped gloves at the crime scene and reported this to the crime scene investigators to make sure it was recorded into the police investigation file.

Based on the police officer, Turan claimed that he was set up and had nothing to do with bombs. He later accused journalists who covered raids in their media outlets as helping police set up the Tahşiyeciler group.

SUAT ÖZÇELİK/KAMİL ARLI (Cihan/Today's Zaman)