Are the Uzbeks Going Global?

JIHADICA.com ^ | June 17th, 2009 | Einar Wigen

[Cindy]

SNIPPET: "The Turkic peoples have until now played a fairly peripheral role in global jihadism. They have not attracted much academic attention, and apart from the 2003 Istanbul bombings and the 2008 American Consulate attacks, operations carried out by Turkics have gained little attention. The Waziristan-based group Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) seems to be trying to change this (as Jihadica has suggested before).

The IJU broke off from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan in 2001, and went for a while under the name Islamic Jihad Group. When the name changed in 2005, the group also assumed a new strategy, one that looked beyond Uzbekistan and focused more on global issues. This may also have involved a merger with other groups, as indicated in the “Union”. What binds the group together appears to be language, and it is primarily made up of Turkic-speaking members."

SNIPPET: "Through its use of the Şehadet Zamanı website the IJU is becoming a hub in the Turkic network of jihadists. The spokes go to Germany, Turkey and obviously also to Uzbekistan. Such a development would seem to give al-Qaida a foothold among radicals of the Turkic peoples."

[Cindy]

ON THE INTERNET:

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/uzbeks/index

[SunkenCiv]

The Turkic peoples have until now played a fairly peripheral role in global jihadism. They have not attracted much academic attention, and apart from the 2003 Istanbul bombings and the 2008 American Consulate attacks, operations carried out by Turkics have gained little attention. The Waziristan-based group Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) seems to be trying to change this (as Jihadica has suggested before). The IJU broke off from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan in 2001, and went for a while under the name Islamic Jihad Group. When the name changed in 2005, the group also assumed a new strategy, one that looked beyond Uzbekistan and focused more on global issues.

[Cindy]

Blog:

http://www.jihadica.com/a-brief-history-of-jihadism-in-turkey/

“A Brief History of Jihadism in Turkey”
Einar Wigen
June 26th, 2009 | Travel Routes, Turkey, Western books

[Cindy]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-turk-terror28-2009jun28,0,2926336.story

#

Quote:

http://osint.internet-haganah.com/archives/001594.html

July 02, 2009

“TURKS INCREASINGLY TURN TO ISLAMIC EXTREMISM”

Referencing this story by Sebastian Rotella.

There are a number of interesting data points in Rotella’s article. However, I would suggest that there is not enough to either draw conclusions or to identify trends. In addition, any report about Islamists in Turkey needs to be viewed with a certain amount of suspicion, given the deep-seated European reluctance to admit Turkey in to the European Community.

Posted on 02 July 2009 @ 02:41 GMT