Abdullah Bozkurt/Stockholm
A Turkish publishing house that prints jihadist literature, including materials used by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) for training purposes, continues to operate in Turkey without facing consequences while receiving a financial boost through purchases made for public libraries across the country, funded by taxpayers’ money.
Books printed by an Islamist publishing house in Istanbul, operating under the name of Guraba Yayıncılık San. ve Tic. Ltd. Şti (Guraba), were discovered in the possession of ISIS suspect Shamsullo Radzhobov in February.
Radzhobov was detained in connection to an ISIS attack on the Church of Santa Maria (Meryem Ana Doğuş Kilisesi) in Istanbul’s Sarıyer district on January 28, 2024, which resulted in one fatality. A 30-year-old Tajik, Radzhobov was the owner of the Hyundai vehicle that transported two ISIS gunmen to the venue. He has a Turkish residence permit and also works as a translator.
Guraba’s books have previously been found in the possession of ISIS terrorists, who use some of the literature distributed by the publishing house to indoctrinate their fighters and enlist new recruits.
In 2016 a tactical warfare book published by Guraba was discovered in an abandoned hospital previously used by ISIS in the Syrian town of al-Shaddadah, located in southern al-Hasakah Governorate in northeastern Syria. Titled “Harb Aleisabat” (guerrilla warfare), the book featured combat tactics intended for use against the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria. It explicitly stated that it was printed by Guraba in Turkey.
The publishing house has a history of printing and distributing jihadist books, predominantly aligned with the ultra-conservative Salafist ideology. However, Turkish authorities have not taken any action against the company or its founder, Abdullah Yolcu (also known as Sheikh Abo Mohammad), a 66-year-old radical preacher.
Yolcu also oversees the Guraba Knowledge, Culture, and Solidarity Association (Guraba İlim Kültür ve Yardımlaşma Derneği, Guraba-Der) NGO, which supports his efforts for jihadist groups. The association obtained an operating license from the Interior Ministry and has encountered no restrictions on its activities thus far.
Yolcu, an ethnic Turkmen from Iraq, is also a Turkish citizen. He received his education in Saudi Arabia under the tutelage of Salafist clerics, establishing himself as one of the foremost Salafi preachers in Turkey. His publishing house prints Turkish translations of Salafist literature as well as original Arabic texts, distributing them not only within Turkey but also overseas, with a particular focus on Arabic versions in its sales to its foreign clientele.
Nordic Monitor’s review of public libraries in Turkey revealed that many books published by Guraba were purchased by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and made available for the public to borrow countrywide. This not only provides financial support for the publishing house but also grants it legitimacy from a public authority.
A search conducted on February 16 on the Turkish government’s official website, using the online public library database, yielded 161 results for Guraba-printed books available in the library catalogue.
Some of the books printed in Turkish and distributed nationwide include writings by Abu Basir al-Tartusi (also known as Abd-al Mun’em Mustafa Halima), a Syrian cleric and jihadist theoretician; “Kitab at-Tawhid” (The Book of the Oneness of God) by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab ibn Sulayman al-Tamimi, the founder of the Wahhabi movement; “Kur’ân ve sünnet’in ışığında cihâd eğitimi” (Jihadi Education in the Light of the Qur’an and the Sunna) by Abd al-Aziz al-Julayyil, a Saudi jihadist cleric; “La Tahzen” by Shaykh Dr. Aaidh ibn Abdullah al-Qarni, a Saudi cleric who is on the US no-fly list; and “Monotheism First” (Önce tevhid) by Sheikh Nasser al Omar, a Saudi extremist cleric.
According to trade registry records, Yolcu is currently the sole owner of Guraba, which was originally established by İsmail Yazıcı in 1994 under the name of Yayıncılık Pazarlama ve Ticaret Limited Şirketi. Yolcu’s name appeared as a shareholder in company records in October 1996.
The book in Arabic discovered among materials abandoned by fleeing ISIL fighters in Syria in 2016 is currently not listed in the publisher’s database, suggesting that Guraba may have privately printed and distributed the book through jihadist networks.
Yolcu has been actively engaged on social media platforms, utilizing Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram to disseminate his ultra-orthodox Islamic ideology. He gives weekly sermons and frequently interacts with other radical figures, including those from abroad.
A review of his social media accounts reveals that he has personally met with Syrian cleric Abu Basir al-Tartusi, Saudi Salafist Abdul-Aziz bin Marzouq al-Tarifi, Mohammad Al-Abdah, president of the Association of Muslim Scholars, and Nawaf Takruri (aka Nawwaf Taqruri), secretary-general of the Palestine Scholars Association in the Diaspora, which is associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.
Guraba has its own network in Europe, particularly among the Turkish and Arab diasporas, and it enjoys a considerable following in Germany, which has the largest Turkish community on the continent with approximately 3 million people.
Through approximately 3,000 videos posted on YouTube, Yolcu communicates his messages to a wider audience, particularly emphasizing armed jihad, which he deems an obligation for all Muslims. He endorses suicide bombing in conflict zones on the condition that such actions are authorized by a religious authority.
Yolcu contends that Hamas’s use of suicide bombing is legitimate because it was sanctioned by Muslim scholars. Furthermore he defended the armed attacks on civilian and military Israeli targets carried out by Hamas fighters on October 7, 2023.
In a video dated July 28, 2016, he described the terrorist group al-Qaeda as an Islamic institution, stating that the organization helped awaken Muslims worldwide. Yolcu considered the separation of al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, from the group to have been a strategic political move, asserting that Muslim jihadists should not consolidate all their efforts in one entity.
Trade registry record from 2017 that shows Abdullah Yolcu as the owner of Guraba:
Guraba_publishing_house_trade_registry_2017
He claims that every Muslim country is different and that Muslims must act according to the circumstances they find themselves in within those countries. For instance, he urged jihadists in Syria not to reveal their ultimate goal of destroying Israel but rather to focus first on toppling the Bashar al-Assad regime. He said an incorrect tactic in Azerbaijan resulted in the closure of a Salafist mosque, which he considered a mistake.
Following this Machiavellian line of thought, he seems to have adjusted his Salafist views regarding Turkey by endorsing the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, despite the fact that Salafists typically consider voting in democratic elections as non-Islamic. He urged his followers to participate in elections, stating that this is obligatory for Turkish Muslims. According to his perspective, a political victory will pave the way for the eventual establishment of Islamic Sharia law.
His endorsement of President Erdogan has provided him with political protection, keeping him away from legal troubles and crackdowns in Turkey and enabling him to continue his hardcore preaching to audiences both in Turkey and abroad.
