Thursday, October 9, 2025
Nordic Monitor
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Extremism
  • Military
  • Terrorism and Crime
  • Intelligence
  • Foreign Policy
  • Contact Us
    • Give us a tip!
  • About Us
  • Home
  • Extremism
  • Military
  • Terrorism and Crime
  • Intelligence
  • Foreign Policy
  • Contact Us
    • Give us a tip!
  • About Us
No Result
View All Result
Nordic Monitor
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Extremism
  • Military
  • Terrorism and Crime
  • Intelligence
  • Foreign Policy
  • Contact Us
  • About Us

Secret military intel shows most foreign jihadists let go in Turkey after detention

May 25, 2019
A A
Secret military intel shows most foreign jihadists let go in Turkey after detention
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

 

By Abdullah Bozkurt

 

Most of the foreign fighters and their cohorts who were caught from 2014 to 2016 by the Turkish military on suspicion of jihadist activity were released, secret intelligence documents obtained by Nordic Monitor have revealed.

According to the classified statistical data kept by the intelligence branch of the Turkish gendarmerie in the Jan. 1, 2014 and June 30, 2016 time period, only 37 percent of detained foreign jihadists were arrested, corresponding to 224 out of 607 detainees. The gendarmerie, which has jurisdiction as the law enforcement agency in rural and border areas, caught 311 Turkish jihadists in the same period. Turkish courts arrested 39 percent of the jihadists while releasing the rest.

 

 

The figures represent only the tip of the iceberg because the data on the number of detainees processed by the police department, Turkey’s main law enforcement agency with jurisdiction in the cities and towns that host 79 percent of the Turkish population, is missing from the tally shown in the intelligence documents. Moreover, the data say nothing about how many of those who were arrested were let go during trial. Most suspects who are formally arrested on charges of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and al-Qaeda affiliation in Turkey are released quickly during legal proceedings in court. The number of successful convictions remains very low in the Turkish criminal justice system because of the permissive political environment under the Islamist government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

They nevertheless give a snapshot in real figures based on official records about what happened in those years with respect to foreign nationals who came to Turkey in order to cross into Syria and Iraq and engage in an armed jihadist fight. Over time, the number of jihadists who arrived in Turkey had increased according to the pattern that can be deciphered from the figures. For example, in 2014 only eight who came from Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Azerbaijan and Turkey were detained by the gendarmerie. The next year the number jumped to 499, and the countries of origin were expanded to include the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Japan, China, Russia, India and others.

The intelligence documents divided foreign detainees into terrorists, collaborators, sympathizers and those who aid and abet. The documents did not have any information about how the military logged detainees according to the different classifications and what criteria were used to distinguish them.

The figures indicate that more men (700) joined the jihadist cause than women (202) in the period covered by the report. The number of children was recorded as 16.

The six-page report that shows the breakdown of the nationalities of foreign fighters is posted below:

ShareTweet
Previous Post

Erdoğan tapped anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist to fan xenophobia in Turkey

Next Post

Coup trials in Turkey marred by false evidence, victimizing many officers

Abdullah Bozkurt

Abdullah Bozkurt

[email protected]

Next Post
Coup trials in Turkey marred by false evidence, victimizing many officers

Coup trials in Turkey marred by false evidence, victimizing many officers

Please login to join discussion
Germany struggles with the prosecution of never-ending Turkish espionage cases

Germany struggles with the prosecution of never-ending Turkish espionage cases

October 9, 2025
Turkey shifts to US partnership for second nuclear plant once promised to Russia

Turkey shifts to US partnership for second nuclear plant once promised to Russia

October 8, 2025
Murder raises new questions about Turkey’s fight against ISIS

Murder raises new questions about Turkey’s fight against ISIS

October 7, 2025
Turkey’s release of ISIS detainees fuels European terrorism threat, Dutch court case shows

Turkey’s release of ISIS detainees fuels European terrorism threat, Dutch court case shows

October 6, 2025
Erdogan pushes for northern Cyprus election win amid allegations of interference and mafia links

Erdogan pushes for northern Cyprus election win amid allegations of interference and mafia links

October 3, 2025
Erdoğan government believed Muslim Brotherhood would make a huge comeback in Egypt in few years

Turkey’s top court quashes terrorism conviction of 2 Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood members

October 2, 2025
Turkey emerges as key haven for Iranian who launched $88M Bittrex crypto case

Turkey emerges as key haven for Iranian who launched $88M Bittrex crypto case

October 1, 2025
Turkish military journal claims NATO is using Ankara without giving it a voice

Turkish military journal claims NATO is using Ankara without giving it a voice

September 30, 2025
$100 billion OmegaPro scandal highlights Turkey’s role as a haven for global fraudsters

$100 billion OmegaPro scandal highlights Turkey’s role as a haven for global fraudsters

September 29, 2025
Turkey shifts away from Russia with new gas deals, hoping to win Trump’s favor

Turkey shifts away from Russia with new gas deals, hoping to win Trump’s favor

September 26, 2025

Nordic Monitor

Nordic Monitor is a news web site and tracking site that is run by the Stockholm-based Nordic Research and Monitoring Network. It covers religious, ideological and ethnic extremist movements and radical groups, with a special focus on Turkey.

Tags

al-Qaeda Andrei Karlov Cyprus Diyanet Egypt Erdogan espionage Germany Greece Gülen Movement Hakan Fidan Hamas Hulusi Akar Ibrahim Kalın IHH Iran IRGC Quds Force ISIL ISIS Isis al-qaida Israel Libya Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu Milli İstihbarat Teşkilatı MIT Muslim Brotherhood NATO President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Profiling Qatar Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Russia SADAT spying Spying Activities Suleyman Soylu Sweden Syria Torture Turkey Turkish Intelligence Turkish Intelligence Agency Turkish intelligence agency MIT Ukraine United States

Recent News

Germany struggles with the prosecution of never-ending Turkish espionage cases

Germany struggles with the prosecution of never-ending Turkish espionage cases

October 9, 2025
Turkey shifts to US partnership for second nuclear plant once promised to Russia

Turkey shifts to US partnership for second nuclear plant once promised to Russia

October 8, 2025
Murder raises new questions about Turkey’s fight against ISIS

Murder raises new questions about Turkey’s fight against ISIS

October 7, 2025

Copyright © Nordic Research and Monitoring Network All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Extremism
  • Military
  • Terrorism and Crime
  • Intelligence
  • Foreign Policy
  • Contact Us
    • Give us a tip!
  • About Us

Copyright © Nordic Research and Monitoring Network All rights reserved.