Levent Kenez/Stockholm
Bülent Yıldırım, president of the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH), a Turkish charity organization with links to radical jihadist groups, has unveiled new plans for the organization of a fleet of ships aimed at breaking Israel’s naval blockade on Gaza. Speaking at an event in Istanbul on February 17, Yıldırım revealed that the flotilla is scheduled to set sail by the end of March, with simultaneous departures expected from several countries across Europe.
During his speech Yıldırım urged participants to donate towards the purchase of ships, stating, “The time for speeches has passed. The time for good intentions has passed. Now we’re going to Jerusalem and Gaza, to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
“We will test both the Egyptian and Gazan entry points from the sea. Israel previously conducted a raid on the Mavi Marmara. This time, they won’t be able to do anything. Even if they do, so what? We’ll become martyrs, and let whoever wants to come, come, and those who don’t, let them show their support,” Yıldırım added.
The new flotilla is being organized in coordination with various NGOs from Canada, Malaysia, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Ships are planned to simultaneously depart from both the Mediterranean and Turkey, Nordic Monitor has learned.
Yıldırım, along with partner NGOs under the banner of the International Freedom Flotilla Coalition, convened a press conference on February 10 where he not only underscored Israel’s actions but also drew attention to Egypt’s role in imposing barriers to Gaza.
Last month, during a speech at a gathering of the Muslim Scholars Union in Qatar, Yıldırım urged individuals to take proactive steps, including gathering at Egypt’s border with Israel to demand the opening of the Rafah border crossing, and if required, to be prepared to pay the ultimate price. Advocating for increased pressure on Egypt, Yıldırım criticized the Islamic world’s silence in order to avoid upsetting Egypt, stressing that Egypt should be made to feel accountable for its actions.
Yıldırım also mentioned their intention to attempt breaking the embargo from the air, although he did not share specific details regarding how they plan to do that.
At a time when relations between Turkey and Egypt are on the mend after a prolonged period of crisis, especially considering Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Egypt on February 14, it is highly unlikely that Erdogan would look favorably on any action by the Turkish intelligence-linked İHH that could potentially anger Egypt.
In 2010 the Mavi Marmara flotilla, organized by the IHH with the aim of delivering aid to Gaza, was intercepted by the Israeli navy, resulting in the death of nine Turkish and one Turkish-American pro-Palestinian activists. This incident not only led to a diplomatic crisis but was also extensively exploited by then-prime minister Erdogan as a useful political tool during domestic rallies.
Yıldırım previously claimed that volunteers from various countries had reportedly gone to fight alongside Israel. He had threatened to launch their own volunteer soldier movement against Israel in response to the conflict sparked by Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel on October 7.
During a press conference at İHH headquarters on October 13, Yıldırım had claimed that the Palestinian territories had been under occupation for 75 years, questioning the legitimacy of Israel’s presence in the region. He asserted that Hamas was not a terrorist organization but that Israel, which he described as an illegitimate creation of the Western world, was. Yıldırım had directed a message to Israel’s supporters, saying every Palestinian issue served as a litmus test and that he had urged people across Europe and America to unite and take to the streets against what he termed “imperialist oppressors.”
Expressing outrage over reports of people from countries like Argentina and Peru volunteering as soldiers for Israel, Yıldırım had warned, “Know your place; if we initiate a volunteer soldier movement in response, we can drown you in a single spit. Did you think we would remain silent when women and children are being killed?”
On November 5 participants of the “Freedom Convoy for Palestine,” led by the IHH in support of Palestine, protested Israel’s attacks on Palestine in front of Incirlik Airbase in Adana, which hosts US Air Force personnel. During the protest some demonstrators attempted to enter the base, prompting police intervention. Police responded by using pressurized water and tear gas to disperse the people attempting to get on to the base.
The İHH is a front charity and tool of Turkish intelligence agency MİT and has been under investigation by the Turkish police. It was accused not only of smuggling arms to al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadists in Syria but also of involvement in the transport of wounded Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and al-Qaeda fighters by ambulance from Syria to Turkey.
The Erdogan government helped save the İHH from legal troubles in Turkey while mobilizing resources and diplomatic clout to back the İHH in global operations.
Nordic Monitor previously released a Turkish police intelligence report explaining how the jihadist Libyan Ben Ali group was conducting illegal activities with the help of İHH Vice President Hüseyin Oruç and its then-South and East Anatolian coordinator Selahattin Ozer. According to the report the Ben Ali group moved between Turkey and Syria to provide logistical support, purchase arms and transport wounded fighters for al‐Qaeda‐affiliated terrorist organizations in Syria.
The Turkish police also investigated the İHH’s links to al-Qaeda, but President Erdogan halted the case in 2014. According to the investigation into al-Qaeda cells in Turkey, İbrahim Şen (37), a convicted al-Qaeda terrorist who was detained in Pakistan and transferred to Guantanamo, where he was kept until 2005, was running a recruitment scheme between Turkey and Syria and using the İHH to cover up the terrorist network.
Due to his political cover from the government, Şen was saved from his legal troubles. He was arrested in January 2014 and indicted in October of the same year but let go at the first hearing of the trial in October. Turkish police officers were then dismissed, and the investigation was hushed up.
The İHH had also been flagged by Russia as an organization that smuggled arms to jihadist groups in Syria, according to intelligence documents submitted to the UN Security Council on February 10, 2016. The Russian documents even furnished the license plate numbers of trucks dispatched by the İHH loaded with arms and supplies bound for al-Qaeda-affiliated groups, including the Nusra Front.
The leaked emails of Berat Albayrak, a son-in-law of President Erdogan and former finance and treasury minister, also implicated the İHH in arming Libyan factions. A secret document found in the leaked emails tells the story of how the owner of a bankrupt shipping and container company demanded compensation from the Turkish government for damage his ship sustained while transporting arms between Libyan ports on the order of Turkish authorities in 2011. The document revealed all the details of a Turkish government-approved arms shipment to rebels in a ship contracted by the İHH.
