A new jihadist video entitled “A Message to Turkey” has appeared on the Internet, in a video that emerged late Monday, allegedly produced by the “Raqqa State Media Office.”
Two months ago Da’esh (ISIS) launched a Turkish-language magazine with a cover story entitled “The Conquest of Constantinople.” The group urged a new Islamic conquest of Turkey’s largest city – Istanbul.
The messenger in the video released Monday is a Turkish fighter who proclaims allegiance to Da’esh (ISIS) and urges Turks to rebel against “infidel” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The greying, bearded fighter, who wears glasses, speaks on the film in an accent-free Turkish, exhorting his fellow Turks to help him conquer Istanbul.
He accuses the Muslim president – himself a fundamentalist – of “selling the country to Crusaders” and giving the United States access to Turkish air bases “just to keep his post.”
Two younger, bearded men, each wearing a scarf tied as a makeshift turban and armed with a gun, are seated on either side of him – appearing almost as students or acolytes – but remain silent throughout the footage. The video is shot among barren desert hills.
“Turkish people: Fight against the friends of the devil. There is no doubt that [the] devil’s order is weak…
“Let us all embrace God’s way… Altogether and under the orders of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi … let’s conquer Istanbul, which the traitor Erdogan works day and night to hand over to crusaders,” the fighter chides, sitting with a rifle propped against his body.
The authenticity of the video could not be verified, but the SITE Intelligence Group described it as a call by a Turkish ISIS fighter for support from Muslims in Turkey.
No specific threats of attacks were made in the video.