In a video published late Wednesday that mentioned the suspected branch of the group in Turkey, the Islamic State has threatened Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“Hey, Erdogan, the arrogant tyrant of Turkey, do not consider the swords of the caliphate’s soldiers are far away from you,” says one Turkish-speaking Islamic State militant, surrounded by two men holding machine guns.
Throughout the video featuring an Islamic State flag and a rocket launcher in the background, the militants covering their faces swore loyalty to group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi .
“Know that standing along the ranks of the Crusaders will not help you against the soldiers of the caliphate,” the man says, referring to Erdogan.
The video was released less than three months after al-Baghdadi appeared on it in a video holding a folder called ‘ Wilayat Turkey ‘ (Turkey Province in Arabic). At the moment, the folder stated that the group was supposed to conduct attacks in Turkey and expand activities.
The video of Wednesday was called Wilayat Turkey.
A New Year attack in 2017 was the last significant Islamic State attack in Turkey, at a nightclub in Istanbul that murdered 39 people.
In June’s nationwide raids, Turkish officials captured 20 suspected Islamic State militants, reported by state news agency Anadolu, who reportedly planned imminent terrorist attacks.
The group “will continue to fight until we make the religion of Allah dominant all over the world”, the person in the video concludes by downplaying U.S. activities in Syria and Iraq against the extremist network.(dpa/NAN)