Jerusalem Post  |  June 15, 2012

Turkey Investigating IHH Head For Funding Al-Qaida'

Bülent Yildirim, a key figure behind the 2010 Gaza flotilla, under investigation for funding terror group, Turkish media reports.

By JPost.com Staff

Turkish legal authorities are investigating allegations that one of the key figures behind the May 2010 Gaza flotilla, Bülent Yildirim, was involved in transferring funds to al-Qaida, Turkish daily Habertürk reported on Friday.

Bülent Yildirim is the president of the IHH, a Turkish charity that was one of the main planners of the Gaza flotilla. On May 31, 2010, IDF commandos raided one of the flotilla vessels attempting to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip, the Mavi Marmara, killing nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists. While Turkey has accused Israel of unprovoked aggression and demanded an apology for the deaths, Israel maintains that the commandos were confronted by violent IHH terrorists when they boarded the vessel and acted in self defense.

The IHH is widely considered a terrorist organization by a number of bodies - including the Israeli government, and has been accused of maintaining ties with a number of terror organizations.

According to the Habertürk report, special prosecutors in both Istranbul and Diyarbakir are conducting separate investigations into claims that Yildirim has been secretly "providing financial aid to al-Qaida via his foundation."

The IHH, short for the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (Insani Yardim Vakfi), is an Islamic charity that was founded in the mid-90s to provide aid to Bosnia Muslims. Since then, it has been involved in charity operations in a number of Muslim and Middle Eastern countries, including Indonesia, Pakistan, Iraq, Lebanon and aid missions to the Palestinian territories.

According to the Israeli NGO The Intelligence and Information Center, the IHH is affiliated with Hamas and the Union of the Good, an Islamic umbrella affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood.

In 2006, a report issued by the Danish Institute for International Studies stated that during the 1990s the IHH maintained links with al-Qaida and a number of "global jihad networks." The report also said that the Turkish government launched an investigation into the IHH starting December 1997 after receiving intelligence that the IHH had bought automatic weapons from Islamist terrorists.

The report said that following the revelation, the Turkish government launched a raid on the organization's Istanbul offices, where they found weapons, explosives, and instructions for bomb-making. The report added that an examination of documents found at the IHH office indicated that the group was planning to take part in terrorist activities in Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Bosnia.

According to the study, a French intelligence report found that in the mid-1990s Yildirim recruited soldiers for jihad activities in a number of Muslim countries and that the IHH transferred money, firearms, and explosives to jihadists in said countries.

Original article here.