The Islamic Great Eastern Raiders-Front (or IBDA-C) has claimed responsibility for the recent deadly attacks on Jewish and British targets in Istanbul. The following is a brief background on this Turkish group:
Islamic Great Eastern Raiders-Front advocates Islamic rule in Turkey and names the Republic of Turkey as illegal. By doing so, it has cooperated with various opposition elements which try to destabilize the current Turkey's system.
However, the IBDA-C is unique in that it also supports a Trotskyist version of Communism that might be described as left-wing Wahhabism.
It was established in the mid-1970 by a breakaway faction of the youth group of the then Islamic Salvation Party headed by former Turkish Prime Minister Nejmettin Erbakan.
The group, a Sunni faction hostile to Iran and the Iranian Shiite revolution, had its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s.
Indeed, IBDA-C has become increasingly violent in the last decade and it was estimated to have no more than 1000 followers. In the past, it staged small-scale attacks on left-wing and Christian targets. The group also used to attack pro-secular journalists.
One of its more famous attacks occurred in the eastern city of Sivas, when activists firebombed a hotel, killing 19 people. In February 2000, the group claimed responsibility for a quadruple bomb attack in Istanbul.
Turkish police believe that in order to create a terrifying image, in the past, the group claimed responsibilities for attacks carried out by other groups.
IBDA-C has a unique structure, which is called "Appear from One's Own Dialectic." According to this tactic, the members independently organize themselves without any hierarchic authority. All the group's actions are held by the fronts, which were formed independently.
Every front determines a function, a target and forms cells independently. Every member acts with the idea of "Great East" - they do not take commands. Thus, usually the other fronts do not have information about actions of other fronts.
The IBDA-C has an active "press unit". Its publications are being sold in many bookstores across the country. The group also operates web sites and print-houses. The members' training is held by press groups and the meetings are held through the bookstores.
Some of the periodicals of IBDA-C, which were formerly published include "AK-DOGUŞ", "AK-ZUHUR", "AKIN YOLU", "TARAF" and "TAHKIM".
Its leader, Salih Izzet Erdis, also known as Salih Mirzabeyoglu, 53, was captured in late 1998.
He was detained by the Istanbul State Security Court and imprisoned in Metris Jail. Mirzabeyoglu was tried for "attempting to replace the Secular Constitutional order with Islamic Sheriah rules." He and other jailed members of the group have been responsible for instigating prison riots and taking wardens hostage. Mirzabeyoglu's lawyer claimed his client was tortured in jail.
The ideas of IBDA-C are influenced by the works of Necip Fazil Kisakurek (1905-1983), who published 130 books on Islamic thought, Islamic arts and various issues.
Kisakurek is considered by Mirzabeyoglu and other followers as the "pioneer" of Islamic thinking in Turkey and the architect of the notion of "Ideal Islamic Society". The basic principles of this society are described in his works.
In general, Kisakurek sought to establish another Turkish caliphate throughout the entire Islamic work; his ideology called for a restoration of pure Islamic values. Kisakurek viewed the modern, secular Turkish state as an evil aberration; the state's secular basis, argued Kisakurek, is responsible for its acquiescence to Western imperialism.
Some of Kisakurek's most famous works are: Ideolocya Orgusu (the Network of Ideology), Ihtilal (Revolution), Dunya Bir Inkilap Bekliyor (The World Looking Forward A Revolution), Ulu hakan Sultan Abdulhamid II (Great Khan Sultan Abdulhamid II), Iman ve Islam Atlasi (The Atlas of Faith and Islam) and Bati Tefekkuru ve Islam Tasavvufu (The Thought of the West and the Tasawwouf of Islam).
Kisakurek was not an associate of Osama bin-Laden's. The two never studied together, though it is possible to find various common lines between their ideologies. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
