Istanbul, 1 June 2007 - Turkish police have arrested eight al-Qaeda suspects in the capital Ankara. The sweep which comes after another 11 suspects were picked up Wednesday in the Sultanbeyli and Fatih districts of Istanbul. The operation follows last week's warning from Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, a man identifying himself as the new leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, who posed threats to Turkey. Police have seized 3 guns and some of the suspects are claimed to provide al-Qaeda operatives with fake passports.
Al-Yazid, in a tape aired on Al Jazeera accused Turkey of handing Abdel Hadi al-Iraqi, an operative selected to lead the organisaton in Iraq, over to the US and said Turkey would be targeted by jihadists. According to Selahattin Karahan an attorney from the law Office that represented al-Qaeda members in Turkey, al-Iraqi had entered Turkey with a false passport and then after he applied for a refugee status he was handed over to CIA.
Tensions has been high in Turkey since a suicide bomber killed six people and injured scores more last week in an attack on a shopping mall in Ankara. Police have detained several suspected members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). group. In November 2003 Istanbul was struck by a series of bombings claimed by a cell of al-Qaeda. More than 60 were killed in those attacks, which targeted two synagogues, the HSBC bank’s headquarters in Turkey and the British Consulate General.
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=
Looking at al-Yazid...
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/1673.htm
THE MEMRI BLOG: “AL-QAEDA PRESENTS NEW LEADER IN AFGHANISTAN, MUSTAFA ABU AL-YAZID, THREATENS TO CARRY OUT ATTACKS AGAINST TURKEY” (Note: Video included.)
(May 24, 2007)