Turkish authorities recently arrested a senior Islamic State figure in Istanbul, Turkish police announced Wednesday. Ezgi Akın reports in Al-Monitor on March 1, 2023.
Acting on Turkish intelligence, Istanbul police caught the man, who was only identified by his initials M.M.B. and his code name Abu Huzaifah, during a raid at his hideout in Istanbul, according to an official statement.
The militant is suspected to have held senior positions in the jihadi group in Syria, including serving as an Islamic State “judge” in Raqqa, Manbij and Tell Abyad, Istanbul police said. An Istanbul court ordered the suspect to remain in pre-trial detention.
It wasn’t immediately clear when he traveled to Istanbul and how long he’d been operating from there.
The official statement stopped short of specifying a date for his detainment, but footage published by the Demiroren News Agency showed police taking him to a medical examination on Feb. 8.
Last month, a series of Western diplomatic missions in Turkey including those of the United States, Sweden and France warned their nationals against potential “terrorist attacks” on Westerners in Istanbul by jihadi extremist groups in retaliation for a Quran-burning protest held in Stockholm in early January.
Some missions also temporarily closed down their offices, angering Ankara and setting off a diplomatic tit-for-tat. The Turkish Foreign Ministry issued counter warnings for its nationals in Western countries that issued alerts and summoned ambassadors from nine countries that shut down their consulates to convey its displeasure over the warnings. Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu accused the countries of waging a “psychological war” against Turkey.
Yet, the massive earthquakes that hit southern and eastern regions of Turkey and northern Syria on Feb. 6 leading to a colossal loss of life and damage have offered an off-ramp from the escalation, with Turkey’s Western allies along with several other countries dispatching humanitarian aid and rescue workers to the country to help relief efforts. Officers from the US Navy and Air Force are currently setting up a 100-bed field hospital in Hatay, one of the Turkish provinces hit hardest by the twin earthquakes that have killed more than 50,000 people, according to official figures.
Earlier this week, the US Embassy in Ankara thanked Turkish police for thwarting threats against Westerners in Istanbul’s historical neighborhoods.
“Due to their work these areas continue to be iconic places that welcome visitors,” the embassy tweeted on Monday, adding, “Just as Americans stand in solidarity with Turks against terrorism, we stand wholeheartedly once again with [Turkey] during this devastating time. »
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the tweet was linked to the arrest of the IS suspect.