While Turkey’s Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been continuously pushing forward his pro-Caliphate agenda and been extending cooperation to Islamic State (ISIS), Muslim Brotherhood and mega-terror outfit Hamas, he also is allowing Hizb ut-Tahrir, an outlawed militancy group in operating freely in Turkey under the Islamist government of Erdoğan. According to media reports, following October 7 Hamas pogrom in Israel, Hizb ut-Tahrir has been calling for armed campaign against Israel to “eliminate the Jewish state” amid ongoing Israeli military operations in Gaza targeting Hamas and other terrorist groups.
An assertive campaign, endorsed by the Turkish government, to support Hamas and its military arm, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, responsible for the attacks on Israeli civilians and military targets on October 7, has raised concerns about further radicalization among the Turkish population.
Posters featuring Abu Obaida, a Palestinian militant serving as the spokesperson for the Qassam Brigades, have been displayed during public demonstrations. At these gatherings young men have dressed in clothing resembling his, complete with a keffiyeh covering their faces. Their demands are clear: They call for armed jihad and ask the government to facilitate their involvement with the Qassam Brigades in combat against the Israeli army.
At a majority of these rallies, protestors fervently chant slogans praising the Qassam Brigades, lauding its fighters and expressing their strong desire to join Hamas in its conflict with Israel. Some of these rallies have been televised live on various Turkish TV networks, which allowed Hamas propaganda to reach a wider audience, resulting in far-reaching influence across Turkey.
Meanwhile quoting Hizb ut-Tahrir, Nordic Monitor in a report said, on October 22, 2023, Mahmut Kar, the leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir’s Turkish network said in a tweet: “If you want to take action, here’s the opportunity. Turkey should not enter Gaza as a peacekeeping force but as an attacking force against the occupier, ‘Israel Gaza is waiting for you”.
Meanwhile, in another report Nordic Monitor said, “An assertive campaign, endorsed by the Turkish government, to support Hamas and its military arm, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, responsible for the attacks on Israeli civilians and military targets on October 7, has raised concerns about further radicalization among the Turkish population.
“Posters featuring Abu Obaida, a Palestinian militant serving as the spokesperson for the Qassam Brigades, have been displayed during public demonstrations. At these gatherings young men have dressed in clothing resembling his, complete with a keffiyeh covering their faces. Their demands are clear: They call for armed jihad and ask the government to facilitate their involvement with the Qassam Brigades in combat against the Israeli army.
“At a majority of these rallies, protestors fervently chant slogans praising the Qassam Brigades, lauding its fighters and expressing their strong desire to join Hamas in its conflict with Israel. Some of these rallies have been televised live on various Turkish TV networks, which allowed Hamas propaganda to reach a wider audience, resulting in far-reaching influence across Turkey”.
According to information, in dozens of anti-Israel and pro-Hamas rallies which are being held across Turkey, including those in front of the Israeli consulate in Istanbul and US embassy in Ankara, leaders of Hizb ut-Tahrir announced that Muslim countries should mobilize their armies to fight against Israel instead of relying on protests and demonstrations. The group also advocated the idea of sending fighters to Israel if Turkey fails to take action, and they called on the government to facilitate such a deployment.
Nordic Monitor further said, during the demonstration held in front of the US embassy on October 30, the group burned an American flag, chanted “Murderer Israel, murderer US” and called for the expelling of all US diplomats in Turkey. They also shouted slogans advocating the establishment of a caliphate, the implementation of Islamic sharia law and the deployment of the Turkish army to Gaza. Hizb ut-Tahrir publicly endorsed Hamas’s terrorist attacks, praising its militants as mujahedeen fighting against the occupying power, and called for Turkey to support Hamas’s military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
It may be mentioned here that Hizb ut-Tahrir which opposes democracy and advocates the re-establishment of the caliphate, is known for its virulent antisemitism and its calls to eliminate Israel. The group has played a significant role in organizing anti-Israel demonstrations in Turkey, where leaders of Muslim countries are criticized for not taking stronger action against Israel and for not supporting Palestine. In these demonstrations, they have referred to the Western world as “infidels” who need to be confronted and called Israel “Jewish dirtbags”. The group blames the Republic of Turkey, the successor of the Ottoman Empire, for the abolition of the caliphate in 1924, claiming it to be the source of all problems in the Muslim world, including those in Palestine. They have seized the recent Israel-Hamas conflict as an opportunity to promote their decades-long advocacy for the re-establishment of the caliphate.
Despite being banned and designated as a terrorist group in in Turkey, Hizb ut-Tahrir experienced a resurgence under the government of President Erdoğan, facilitated by the group’s support for Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has its roots in political Islam. As a result, Hizb ut-Tahrir was allowed to organize significant events in Ankara and Istanbul, where the group’s global operatives openly promoted the idea of establishing a new caliphate.
