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Turks Arrest Suspected al Qaeda Militants

Police in Turkey have arrested 12 people suspected of links to Islamist militant network al-Qaeda in Istanbul and Van province.

Steven L. Taylor
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Via the BBC:   Turkey seizes al-Qaeda suspects:

Police in Turkey have arrested 12 people suspected of links to Islamist militant network al-Qaeda in Istanbul and Van province, local media report.

They picked up the suspects in two simultaneous operations and are holding them on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks, officials said.

Weapons, bomb-making items, explosives and digital devices were found.

[…]

However, in January police arrested more than 150 people suspected of al-Qaeda links in cities including Ankara and Istanbul.

Similar raids were also carried out in 2009 and 2008.

The Van province is in eastern Turkey on the Iranian border.

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4 responses to “Turks Arrest Suspected al Qaeda Militants”

  1. Andrew M. Avatar
    Andrew M.

    Disconcerting.

  2. Alex Knapp Avatar
    Alex Knapp

    Wait, this doesn’t make sense. I thought that all Muslims were united against the West in universal Jihad, and all protestations to the contrary were just lies that Muslims are allowed to tell? So why would Turkey arrest al-Qaeda members?

    Unless….

    …It’s to make us THINK that all Muslims aren’t united against the West in universal Jihad.

    Ah ha! Yes, that must be the case!

  3. Steven Taylor Avatar
    Steven Taylor

    @Alex: I almost added commentary to that effect 😉

  4. emrah p. Avatar
    emrah p.

    But there is a problem in these arguments. First of all, Turkey is not a muslim country. Obviously most of her population consider themselves as muslim but one should not disregard the secular structure of the nation. Think about that; how would it be if all the countries in that region have had a similar governing body? Besides, isn’t it the “western” powers that create a nurturing ground for non-secular structures such as Imam Gulen and his followers? One can easily figure out that this person cannot go back to Turkey because of his fundamentalist attitude and many constitutional crimes he has committed in this country. I guess objectivity is the main tool for solving problems.

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