Wednesday, May 28, 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

Turkey appoints radical Islamist professor as ambassador to Senegal

March 9, 2020
A A
Turkish judge blocks news story on Erdogan’s clandestine operations in Somalia

Ahmet Kavas, former Turkish ambassador to Chad in 2013-2015

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Nordic Monitor

 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced the appointment of Ahmet Kavas, who sympathized with the al-Qaeda terrorist organization, as Turkey’s new ambassador to Senegal during a recent official visit to the West African country.

Addressing the Turkey-Senegal Business Forum in Dakar, President Erdoğan underlined that the appointment would contribute to the improvement of bilateral relations, adding that he introduced Kavas to Senegal President Macky Sall at their official meeting in Dakar on January 28, 2020.

Kavas, a theology professor, founded the African Researchers Association (AFAM) in 2016 and served as ambassador to Chad between 2013 and 2015. In February 2013 he faced criticism after declaring on Twitter that “Al-Qaeda is not a terrorist organization” and accusing France of intentionally exaggerating the terrorist threat in Mali. Kavas’s posts were interpreted by lawmakers and journalists to mean that he viewed the global terror group as a legitimate resistance movement.

“The word ‘terror’ is a French invention. Not the work of Muslims,” he also tweeted as French forces entered Mali in a bid to halt the encroaching Islamist fighters. Turkish lawmakers launched a parliamentary inquiry aimed at forcing the ambassador to explain himself and his sympathies for al-Qaeda.

According to the Hürriyet Daily News, he also argued that Turkish religious imam-hatip schools “could be the best recipe if Africa wants to overcome its poverty and other maladies.”

 

 

Tweet by AFAM reveals the appointment of Kavas.

 

 

Kavas has taught courses at the research center of Turkey’s highly controversial charity group, the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH), which was identified as an arms smuggler to radical terrorist groups in Syria and Libya.

Following the announcement, the IHH Humanitarian and Social Research Center (İnsani ve Sosyal Araştırmalar Merkezi, INSAMER) described the appointment of Kavas as an indication of President Erdoğan’s strategy to develop Turkish-Senegalese relations: “By signing seven bilateral agreements with Senegal, Turkey is demonstrating its intention to develop its relations with Senegal, and for that reason Erdogan announced the appointment of Prof. Ahmet Kavas, an expert on Ottoman Africa and Francophone Africa, as Turkey’s new ambassador to Senegal.”

In 2012 a German federal court banned the IHH since the Turkish charity was contributing funds to Hamas. Today, the IHH works with the Turkish intelligence agency and is a tool in the hands of the Erdoğan government. The IHH was accused of smuggling arms to al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadists in Syria and Libya and acts as a revolving door for installing religious fanatics and zealots in government jobs.

 

 

Kavas’s AFAM receives generous funds from Turkish authorities for its activities. AFAM recently carried out a short-term training program for African journalists, officially known as the Africa Media Representatives Training Program (AFMED) between October 21 and November 12, 2019 in Istanbul and Ankara.

While AFMED was financed and supported by the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) diaspora agency and the state-run Anadolu news agency, the IHH and the African Coordination and Training Center (AKEM) of the corrupt Deniz Feneri charity contributed to the training program.

AFMED was attended by 20 participants from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Chad, Ethiopia, South Africa, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia and Sudan. According to its web page, the program aimed to enhance mutual cooperation between Turkey and African countries by supporting experience-sharing in the field of media. To ensure this, it “offers both practical and theoretical training of 3 weeks’ duration and includes stakeholders’ visits, internship opportunities in the leading institutions of Turkey.”

ShareTweet
Previous Post

Turkish President Erdogan’s ‘ghost son’ Burak exposed in secret wiretaps

Next Post

Turkey aiming to take over management of strategic port in Djibouti

Nordic Monitor

Nordic Monitor

[email protected]

Next Post
Turkey aiming to take over management of strategic port in Djibouti

Turkey aiming to take over management of strategic port in Djibouti

Turkey leverages foreign wars to boost conventional arms production and profit

Turkey leverages foreign wars to boost conventional arms production and profit

May 28, 2025
Turkey sounds alarm over declining birth rates amid economic concerns

Turkey sounds alarm over declining birth rates amid economic concerns

May 27, 2025
Turkish journalist in Sweden faces fresh indictment and trial in Turkey over published article

Sweden-Turkey intelligence swap reportedly targeted Nordic Monitor and its editor

May 26, 2025
Erdogan ally calls for mass killing of Zionists, declares ‘humanity has no other choice’

Erdogan ally calls for mass killing of Zionists, declares ‘humanity has no other choice’

May 23, 2025
Killer of Turkish Armenian journalist openly embraced by Erdogan gov’t after early release

Killer of Turkish Armenian journalist openly embraced by Erdogan gov’t after early release

May 22, 2025
Turkish military hierarchy at risk as Erdogan seeks new powers

Turkish military hierarchy at risk as Erdogan seeks new powers

May 21, 2025
Turkey approved concessions to Russia on $20 bln nuclear power plant amid sanctions, Ukraine-Russia war

Turkey pays more for energy while Russia holds keys to nuclear plant

May 20, 2025
Hundreds of organized crime syndicates have flourished in Turkey on Erdogan’s watch

Hundreds of organized crime syndicates have flourished in Turkey on Erdogan’s watch

May 19, 2025
Google, YouTube accused of censoring Erdogan critics

Google’s algorithm changes and YouTube censorship deepen suppression of Erdogan critics

May 16, 2025
Erdogan’s neo-nationalist allies escalate their campaign against Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and the Vatican

Erdogan’s neo-nationalist allies escalate their campaign against Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and the Vatican

May 15, 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 China coup Cyprus Diyanet Egypt 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 Agency Turkish intelligence agency MIT Ukraine United States

Recent News

Turkey leverages foreign wars to boost conventional arms production and profit

Turkey leverages foreign wars to boost conventional arms production and profit

May 28, 2025
Turkey sounds alarm over declining birth rates amid economic concerns

Turkey sounds alarm over declining birth rates amid economic concerns

May 27, 2025
Turkish journalist in Sweden faces fresh indictment and trial in Turkey over published article

Sweden-Turkey intelligence swap reportedly targeted Nordic Monitor and its editor

May 26, 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.