Erdogan secures release of life-sentenced Turkish jihadist in UAE
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – As part of the normalization efforts between Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a Turkish al-Qaeda militant who was serving a life sentence in the Gulf state, was released.
The 54-year old Mehmet Ali Ozturk, from the Turkish province of Mersin, started a jihadist network in 2012 in Turkey and Syria and implemented projects in Iraq and some African countries, as well as he was used by Turkish intelligence agency in arming and training Turkmen groups in Syria, according to Nordic Monitor platform.
Ozturk was detained by the UAE’s State Security Directorate on 20 February 2018.
At the end of the trial on December 25, 2018, he was sentenced to life in prison on charges of supporting terrorist organizations, including a membership in al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham as he provided funds and logistical support to these organizations, the platform further explained.
The Turkish Embassy closely followed Ozturk case and even sent a consular officer to monitor the hearings. But all the Turkish efforts to secure his release failed, the platform added.
Turkey and UAE have begun to restore relations over the past year, after 10 years of political and proxy conflicts in places such as Libya, Egypt, and the Horn of Africa, and accusations the Emiratis were plotting to take down the Turkish government.
Facing troubles in the domestic economy, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan decided last year to normalize relations with the UAE in the hope of attracting investment and trade.
After months of talks between the Turkish and UAE delegations, Erdogan made an official visit to the UAE in February 2022 achieving several agreements including the release of Ozturk on November 29, 2021.
The release of Ozturk came five days after the crown prince made an official visit to Turkey on November 24, 2021, the platform noted.
The Nordic Monitor platform also noted that Ozturk funded jihadists in Syria through his association, Bayırbucak Türkmen Dağı Kültür Eğitim ve Yardımlaşma Dernegi, a front organization that worked closely with Turkish intelligence.
He also helped recruiting many Turkish jihadists to fight in Syria and gave speeches praising the Syrian jihad at many gatherings in Turkey, the platform reported.
The platform said that several of Ozturk’s co-workers “were photographed dressed in army fatigues with AK-47s.”
Nordic Monitor said that he also collaborated with the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), a Turkish charity group that is related to al-Qaeda and works in cooperation with Turkish intelligence.