Abdullah Bozkurt/Stockholm
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), designated as a terrorist group by Turkey’s strategic partners, the US and EU, has significantly increased its presence in Turkey, a NATO member state, with substantial support from the Islamist government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and its allies.
Although Hamas is the preferred organization of the Erdogan government, enjoying more generous support and more favorable public exposure in Turkey, the PIJ has nonetheless garnered significant influence and developed the ability to rally Turks in support of the militant organization.
The key Palestinian operative overseeing Turkish operations is Ihsan Ataya, the leader of PIJ in Lebanon and member responsible for the organization’s external affairs. His main facilitator is Nurettin (also known as Nureddin) Şirin, a long-time Turkish asset for the Iran-based Quds Force. Şirin has served time in prison for aiding and abetting the Quds Force’s terrorist network, known in Turkey as Tawhid-Salam.
Şirin was the subject of a new terrorism probe in 2010 when he threatened to kill Jews in Turkey, prompting the police and prosecutors to investigate him and his associates. However, the investigation, which had uncovered further evidence of Şirin’s illegal ties to Iran, including illicit funding, was quashed by Turkish President Erdogan in 2014. The police and prosecutors who had investigated Şirin were arbitrarily reassigned and later dismissed by the government.
Ataya has visited Turkey multiple times as a guest of Şirin and his network, attending anti-Israel rallies and giving speeches that encouraged armed jihad against the West, particularly Israel. On behalf of the PIJ, he has been raising funds and obtaining logistical support for the organization’s terrorist operations.
The last time Ataya appeared in Turkey was on May 5, 2024, when he delivered a fiery speech at a rally in Istanbul organized by Turkish Hizbullah. This pro-Iran group, aligned with the Erdogan government since 2014, is a separate entity from Lebanon’s Hezbollah, although both share the same ideological views and are supported by Iran.
A second Turkish national serving as the PIJ’s pointman is Kadir Akaras, the secretary general of the pro-Iran Ehli Beyt Alimleri Derneği (Ehlader) organization. A terrorism investigation conducted between 2011 and 2013 exposed Akaras’s connections to the Quds Force and revealed his meetings with Quds Force agents who were working undercover as Iranian consulate attachés in Istanbul. Like Şirin, he also managed to escape the long arm of justice due to interference in the case by the Erdogan government.
On behalf of Iran, Akaras carried out multiple clandestine operations, organized anti-West rallies in Turkey to shape public opinion and mobilized protesters against NATO’s Kürecik Radar Station, located in the southeastern province of Malatya. The radar station, which serves as an early-warning system against ballistic missile attacks, was initially installed and is currently operated by US military personnel.
Ataya also received the Erdogan government’s blessing, which helped him navigate the Turkish bureaucracy smoothly and facilitated his engagement with Turkish officials. The Turkish Embassy in Lebanon even publicly shared a photo of him meeting with Turkish Ambassador Hakan Çakıl on January 17, 2020, an occurrence that would have been unimaginable a decade ago. The photo serves as a testament to Ataya’s acceptance by Turkish state agencies.
Hasan Turan, who mobilizes resources for Hamas in Turkey on behalf of President Erdogan, has also been aiding and abetting the PIJ in its activities in the country. Turan, a member of parliament from Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), serves as head of the Palestine-Turkey Parliamentary Friendship Group.
Acknowledgment of the PIJ as a legitimate player within the top leadership in Turkey has also influenced the positive coverage it receives in media outlets directly or indirectly controlled by the Erdogan government. It frequently garners favorable attention in Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency, reflecting the official perspective of the government.
In return, the PIJ has positioned itself as a staunch supporter of the Erdogan regime in Turkey, rallying its followers to endorse Erdogan in elections. In fact Ataya issued a statement on behalf of the PIJ on May 29, 2023, congratulating Erdogan on his victory in the presidential and parliamentary elections, which were conducted in an unfair manner favoring Erdogan and his party.
In addition to Islamist groups, the PIJ also secured the endorsement of the far-left, neo-nationalist (Ulusalcı) Aydınlık group, led by Doğu Perinçek, the leader of the Homeland Party (Vatan Partisi). The group is distinctly anti-West and advocates for Turkey to sever its ties with NATO and move towards an alliance with Iran, Russia and China.
Ataya was featured in the group’s mouthpiece, the Aydınlık newspaper, on February 18, 2024, in an exclusive interview he gave in Lebanon. He stated that the PIJ has been waging a war not only against Israel but also against the US, the UK and other Western countries that support Israel. He predicted that Israel would turn its gaze towards other countries in the region after Palestine, a viewpoint recently echoed by Turkish President Erdogan.
Speaking in Parliament on May 15, 2024, Erdogan claimed that Israel would “set its sights” on Turkey if it succeeded in defeating Hamas in the Gaza Strip. “Do not think that Israel will stop in Gaza,” Erdoğan told his party lawmakers. “Unless it’s stopped … this rogue and terrorist state will set its sights on Anatolia [Turkey] sooner or later,” he said. “We will continue to stand by Hamas, which fights for the independence of its own land and which defends Anatolia.”
Nasser Abu Sharif, the PIJ representative in Iran, was another senior figure promoted in Turkey by the Aydınlık group. In an interview published on May 27, 2021, Sharif was given a platform to communicate the PIJ’s jihadist ideology and commitment to armed campaigns against Jews in particular and the West in general.
While Hamas is the primary beneficiary of the Erdogan government’s endorsement, the PIJ’s presence in Turkey has also significantly expanded in recent years. However, this fact has often been overlooked in the public debate, and it has remained in the shadow of Hamas.
