Ankara: Turkey has raided Istanbul and arrested the new leader of the terrorist group Daesh. Local media claimed on Thursday.
Turkey’s dissident news website ODA TV claimed that Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Quraishi was captured in an operation directed by Istanbul police chief Zafar Aktas, after days of surveillance and preparation, although no official has yet. Statement not given.
According to Turkish press reports, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to reveal the details of the operation in the coming days.
The previous leader of Daesh, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi, was killed by US forces in northwestern Syria on February 3.
In recent months, Turkish police have conducted systematic raids against Daesh cells across the country. Earlier in May, a possible suicide bomber allegedly linked to the group was arrested in Urfa on the Syrian border, while three more people were detained in Bursa in the same week.
On Thursday, a Daesh member was shot dead by police for allegedly trying to detonate himself in front of a police department in the southeastern province of Gaziantep.
Experts note that this most recent operation could be used by Ankara to demonstrate its commitment to counter-terrorism efforts against its NATO allies.
It is no coincidence that Ankara reportedly took on a top Daesh figure amid the ongoing debate about expanding NATO and Turkey’s allegations about his alleged support of terrorist groups against some Nordic countries.
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Sonar Cagapte, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute, believes the timing of the operation in Istanbul is telling.
He told Arab News, “It is no coincidence that Ankara has reportedly been Daesh’s top figure amid the ongoing debate about expanding NATO and Turkey’s alleged support of terrorist groups against some Nordic countries.” Occupied.”
According to Cagapte, Turkey is in sync with Western security priorities and is trying to remind its NATO allies that it helps them against common terrorist threats.
Turkey is also part of a larger international coalition of countries that have spent years fighting Daesh.
During the coalition’s latest ministerial meeting in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Kavusoglu also voiced Turkey’s own concerns, saying the fight against Daesh cannot be won with the help of other terrorist groups.
This was widely interpreted as a reference to Kurdish groups such as the People’s Protection Force, or YPG, which has received some support from Sweden, applying to join NATO – a move Turkey, as a result, opposes. doing.
“This latest operation in Istanbul is critical to urging the Western Coalition for Ankara that it is now their turn to address Turkey’s domestic terrorism concerns that affect not only Daesh but also other terrorist groups including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party – the PKK – and its Syrian branch. YPG as well,” said Cagapte.
The alleged capture of al-Quraishi also coincided with a meeting of the National Security Council chaired by Erdogan on Thursday, where details of Turkey’s impending operation against YPG militants in northern Syria were discussed.
“Operations currently undertaken or being undertaken to clear our southern borders from the threat of terrorism do not in any way target the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our neighbors and they create a need for our national security needs.” Let’s do it,” the meeting’s final communiqué said.
Ankara believes it faces security threats from Manbij, Ain al-Arab and Aleppo’s Tal Rifat district, which it considers a base for hostile groups.
Erdogan announced on Monday that he would launch an offensive in northern Syria to push back the YPG, and secure a 30-kilometer safe zone to settle Syrian refugees currently living in Turkey.
However, a possible military operation – after three previous offenses – has not yet received approval from the US.
On May 24, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said, “We recognize Turkey’s legitimate security concerns along Turkey’s southern border, but any new attack will further undermine regional stability and further damage the US military and ISIS (Daesh). Will jeopardize the coalition’s campaign against it.” press briefing.
Colin P. Clark, research director at The Soufan Group, believes that anti-Daesh operations in Turkey could have a significant impact on the group’s presence in the region.
“Even when Daesh was still conducting its regional ‘caliphate,’ it was sending operators to Turkey to lay the groundwork for financial and logistics support networks. Those networks supported Daesh. has paid for, because it has allowed the leadership continued access to the money,” he told Arab News.
According to Clark, the Turkish government should be encouraged to take more stringent action on Daesh, but there is some concern about a backlash, including terrorist attacks, inside Turkey.
Daesh members have carried out several attacks across the country, including at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bombings and four armed attacks, which have so far killed 315 people and injured hundreds of others.