Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri The Coordinator 2015 Part 17-52-The Deep Battle against the West

Intel to Rent C de Waart [email protected] In Confidence

Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri The Coordinator 2015 Part 17-52-The Deep Battle against the West

ISIS to Western Christians: "You Won't Have Safety ... Until You Embrace Islam"- "After Blowing Up the White House, We Want Paris”

Intelligence reports indicate ISIS in Syria arranging bombing at next Saturday's VJ Day to kill the Queen of England - no arrests made yet. The planned attack is to target the 70th VJ Day (Victory in Japan) marking the end of World War II, and in particular it aims to kill the Queen of England - the warning has triggered British security to beef up its presence dramatically. Aside from Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles is another possible target.

In a recent execution video from the Islamic State group, two European nationals claiming to be members of the militant group threaten Germany with attacks as they use assault rifles to kill two men in Palmyra, Syria.

In a rare German-language video message, the militants from the group -- which is also known as ISIS or ISIL -- call on their "brothers and sisters" in Europe to join them in Syria or to carry out attacks in their home countries.

Terror group ISIS is planning to send members of an all-female police force to attack Christian holy sites in Europe, a Syrian military expert has said, identifying the Vatican as one possible target of the attacks.

Fahad Al-Masri, the president of the Centre for Strategy, Military and Security Studies in Syria, shared with the MailOnline on Monday that members of the infamous Al-Khansaa Brigade are planning to disguise themselves as tourists in Europe so that they can carry out the attacks. "This is the first time women will be used in these operations. It will be a surprise for the European authorities who look for men. Women are not as difficult as men to sneak into countries and there are many European women in the Al-Khansaa Brigade — like French and British — which makes it easier for them to get in undetected," Al-Masri said. "We don't think the women will be wearing a hijab or burka — so they do not stand out. They will be normal like everybody, as if they are tourists."

An American military source told Fox News that US military leaders were "outraged" when Turkey began launching airstrikes against the Kurdish PKK in northern Iraq just hours after striking a deal with the US opposing the Islamic State, the militant group also known as ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh.

Turkey’s foreign minister says its air bases have begun hosting US aircraft and drones and that soon it will launch a “comprehensive battle” against Isis militants.

In addition to such daily “news” and commentaries, IS also publishes online magazines that offer more theoretical arguments to Turkish readers. One of them is conspicuously titled "Konstantiniye’nin Fethi" ("Conquest of Constantinople"). In its first issue in July, it quoted a famous saying by the Prophet Muhammad on the blessed army that would conquer Constantinople — meaning, of course, IS. A poem in the same issue read, “Oh Istanbul, you have allowed disbelief in your avenues. You have filled your streets with sins, but surely you will be conquered. You will bow down to the 'takbirs' [declarations of God’s unity].”

"There is no difference between PKK and Daesh," Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

And blowback — most recently in the form of attacks of security forces and the US consulate in Istanbul — is becoming increasingly likely.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the formation of a "wide anti-terrorist front" had been one of the main themes of the Kerry-Lavrov-Jubeir talks.

But there remains a huge dividing factor between the US and Saudi Arabia on one side and Russia and Iran on the other – what to do about Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"To fully embrace a Kurdish force would complicate an already fragile strategy, two of the

1The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see. –Winston ChurchillCees de Waart: Intel to Rent Page 1 of 9

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defense officials concluded," Nancy Youseff of The Daily Beast reports. "The Turks ... would not welcome an emboldened Kurdish force on its southern border.

Neither would many of America's Arab allies, who are also threatened by Kurdish sovereignty movements."

And if Turkey keeps going after PKK while not trying to provoke ISIS, "it will leave the US without a Syria strategy," geopolitical expert Ian Bremmer told Business Insider recently.

Islamic State ups rhetoric against Ankara Aug 12, How exactly Turkey sees the Islamic State (IS) has long been a bone of contention among both Turks and Turkey observers. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) government claims it never supported IS and has condemned it as a terror group from the beginning. Others accuse the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan being too lenient on IS, at least until recently, saying the AKP saw IS as a bulwark against Kurdish gains in Syria. More heated voices in the Turkish opposition, including the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), even blame the AKP government for creating, arming and using IS for its own ends. Much less attention is given, however, to how IS sees Turkey and the AKP. But IS wants to be heard on this, and on its Turkish-language website, online magazines and Twitter accounts, repeatedly condemns Turkish leaders as nothing but a flock of “apostates.” It also warns that the Turkish people will be soon punished for the attack on IS by “Erdogan the devil.” The IS website in question is called Darul Hilafe, which means "Land of the Caliphate." It was hosted on the domain DarulHilafe.com but was blocked by Turkish authorities in June, along with a few other jihadist websites. The site was reopened quickly on the domain DarulHilafe.net, which was still up when this article was written. It is, of course, worth asking why the Turkish system, which can be very quick to block websites when the highest authorities are personally disturbed, is sluggish when it comes to other matters.An Aug. 8 entry on Darul Hilafe addressed Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, or “the little devil.” (The term "tagut," which is used in the Quran to refer to the metaphysical devil, is common in Islamist parlance for despised political figures.) The sarcastic article condemned Davutoglu for trying to threaten IS by visiting a Turkish military post near the Syrian border. It also ridiculed Davutoglu for appearing among other world leaders, or taguts, at the Paris march held after the Charlie Hebdo massacre — an act IS, of course, praises.While Davutoglu is the "little devil" in the eyes of IS, the big one is Erdogan. An entry dated Aug. 7 accuses “Tagut Erdogan” of trying to brainwash Turkish society through his media machine to favor an alliance with the “infidel state America” by allowing the US military base at Incirlik to be used against IS. The article also presents the move as a big boost to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is designated as a terrorist group by both the Turkish and US governments. According to the article, Erdogan is making a mistake by allying with the PKK against IS, “which has not yet shot a single bullet at a Turkish soldier.” The subtext is that after the US-Turkish deal on the use of Incirlik, IS could move on to a "no more Mr. Nice Guy" phase toward Turkey.This threat is made more clearly on Twitter, where IS Turkey has a current account: @DarulHilafe6. An Aug. 5 tweet read, “Oh people of Turkey, don’t allow the devil Erdogan to get you killed. Don’t forget that you will pay the price.” Other tweets explained that “the lions of the caliphate” were ready to hit Turkey with “martyrdom trucks” that were ready to “explode anytime.”IS condemns Turkey for allying itself with the PKK. One Darul Hilafe article even defines the PKK as an “Erdogan-fed atheist gang.” It is a bit ironic that at the same time, the PKK and HDP condemn Erdogan for supporting IS against them. The Turkish government is caught in the crossfire between IS and the PKK.In addition to such daily “news” and commentaries, IS also publishes online magazines that offer more theoretical arguments to Turkish readers. One of them is conspicuously titled "Konstantiniye’nin Fethi" ("Conquest of Constantinople"). In its first issue in July, it quoted a famous saying by the


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Prophet Muhammad on the blessed army that would conquer Constantinople — meaning, of course, IS. A poem in the same issue read, “Oh Istanbul, you have allowed disbelief in your avenues. You have filled your streets with sins, but surely you will be conquered. You will bow down to the 'takbirs' [declarations of God’s unity].”The same issue includes an article explaining what apostasy is in Islam, and declaring that all Shiites and Alevis are apostates that need to be executed (and discusses, chillingly, whether their children should be spared). Meanwhile, democracy is condemned as an alternative “religion” to Islam, and those who accept a democratic regime are considered polytheists. Then the magazine vows, “Oh democrats, we will fight against you until there is no democrat left on Earth. You will either all return to the religion of Allah, or with Allah’s help we will put all of you to the sword.”With such an excommunication of democracy, Turkey, which is one (imperfect though it is), is clearly enemy territory for IS. No wonder Konstantiniye’nin Fethi considers meat from animals slaughtered in Turkey unclean. In Islamic law, meat slaughtered by infidels is considered unclean, similarly to the kosher laws in Orthodox Judaism.The second issue of Konstantiniye’nin Fethi, also released in July, takes the definition of apostasy further to include “those who fight the state of the caliphate.” Erdogan is listed among such apostates. In another article, headlined "Erdogan’s Kurdish State," the magazine again condemns the Turkish government for supporting the “atheist gang,” referring to the PKK. This “gang,” the article adds, “spreads the lie that Erdogan supports the Islamic State, only to ask for more support for itself.”All in all, it is very clear that IS sees the Turkish government, no matter how “Islamist” it may be in secular eyes, as one of the eternal devils it is destined to fight. Despite this, until recently, a live-and-let-live attitude may have defined the relation between the “caliphate” and Ankara, as each side, occupied with other priorities, did not wish to provoke the other. Yet the June 20 suicide bombing in Suruc that killed 33 Turkish citizens made Ankara more alert against IS, and hence came the decision to open the Incirlik Air Base for strikes against IS. In return, IS now seems to be more on guard against Turkey, adding to the already tense situation in Turkey over to the derailment of the peace process with the PKK.

US military official: 'We were outraged' when Turkey pulled a fast one right after the anti-ISIS dealNATASHA BERTRAND Aug. 11, 2015, An American military source told Fox News that US military leaders were "outraged" when Turkey began launching airstrikes against the Kurdish PKK in northern Iraq just hours after striking a deal with the US opposing the Islamic State, the militant group also known as ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh.A Turkish officer entered the allied headquarters in the air war against ISIS and "announced that the strike would begin in 10 minutes and he needed all allied jets flying above Iraq to move south of Mosul immediately," the source said. "We were outraged." The US special forces stationed in northern Iraq advising and training Kurdish peshmerga fighters had virtually no warning before Turkish jets started striking the mountains, where the PKK is headquartered. "We had no idea who the Turkish fighters were, their call signs, what frequencies they were using, their altitude or what they were squawking [to identify the jets on radar]," the source said.Turkish military leaders asked coalition officers to reveal the trainers' specific whereabouts to avoid bombing them, but the officers flatly refused. "No way we were giving that up," the military source said. "If one of our guys got hit, the Turks would blame us. We gave the Turks large grids to avoid bombing. We could not risk having US forces hit by Turkish bombs."The confrontation highlights the tension growing between the US and Turkey, which became a reluctant ally in the fight against ISIS after years of turning a blind eye to the militants' illicit activity on its southern border. On July 24, Ankara announced it would begin to strike ISIS strongholds in northern Syria and would allow the US to do the same from its Incirlik airbase in southeastern Turkey.The ongoing bombing campaign against PKK strongholds in northern Iraq came as a surprise, but it


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probably shouldn't have: Turkey has long seen the PKK — a designated terrorist organization that waged a three-decade insurgency inside Turkey — as more of an existential threat than ISIS, which refrained from launching attacks inside Turkey even as its militants lived and operated along the border.

Reuters

"There is no difference between PKK and Daesh," Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.But Ankara's recent anti-terror sweep — which has resulted in the arrest of more than 800 suspected PKK members, compared with just over 100 suspected ISIS sympathizers — and the intensity of its bombing campaign in northern Iraq has made it clear that Turkey's main goal is not to prevent the consolidation of ISIS, but to halt the creation of an autonomous Kurdish state along its southern border.And blowback — most recently in the form of attacks of security forces and the US consulate in Istanbul — is becoming increasingly likely. The US, meanwhile, is moving away from its $500 million Syrian train-and-equip program and embracing a partnership with the YPG — Syrian Kurds who are closely allied with the PKK.


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"To fully embrace a Kurdish force would complicate an already fragile strategy, two of the defense officials concluded," Nancy Youseff of The Daily Beast reports."The Turks ... would not welcome an emboldened Kurdish force on its southern border. Neither would many of America's Arab allies, who are also threatened by Kurdish sovereignty movements."

WikipediaAnd if Turkey keeps going after PKK while not trying to provoke ISIS, "it will leave the US without a Syria strategy," geopolitical expert Ian Bremmer told Business Insider recently."Access to Incirlik airbase matters, but the additional bombing it enables will only help contain ISIS, not roll it back," Bremmer added. "And it will leave Washington without the improved relations with Ankara that the Obama administration is hoping for."

Turkey, US, Syrian ISIS-Free Safe Zone: Turkmen Brigades Move Into Syria, Al-Nusra Moves Out, Soldiers Say Aug 11, A group of ethnic Turkmen fighters arrived in Azaz, Syria, on Monday afternoon to launch the first phase of a joint U.S.-Turkish initiative to establish an Islamic State group-free "safe zone" in the country, two soldiers fighting in northern Syria told International Business Times via Skype. Tanks carrying the fighters entered through the Bab al-Salama border, crossing from southeastern Turkey into the town of Azaz, Syria, setting off a wave of attacks by the Islamic State militant group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, in the town of Marea, which forced the al-


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Qaeda extremist group Jabhat al-Nusra to retreat."At first everyone thought the tanks were filled with Turkish soldiers, but it was the Turkmen," one of the rebel fighters said.The soldiers, interviewed Tuesday by IBTimes, were trained in Turkey and are in one of the biggest moderate-opposition rebel coalitions in the country. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are in combat. Shifting alliances among rebel groups in the country have left them fearing retribution if they identified themselves on the record. One of the soldiers, a commander, recently attended talks with the Turkish government in the capital city of Ankara regarding the Turkish-U.S. plan to create a safe zone in the northern part of the country. New Development Turkmen fighters entering Syria is a significant new development in the war against ISIS, because it shows that the U.S. and Turkey are going to rely on them, instead of other moderate Syrian rebels, to ensure the militant group does not re-enter the area. Both soldiers told IBTimes the Turkmen fighters were the first group tapped by the U.S. and Turkey to lead the military operation to create a safe zone in northern Syria.The so-called safe zone requires Turkish and American air forces to bomb ISIS militants to rout them from their posts along the border. The zone, which extends 25 miles into Turkey, would effectively rid the area of ISIS and permit entry for humanitarian organizations to provide essential food and medical aid. Turkish officials have said over the past few weeks that the government decided to establish the safe zone as a means of securing its border and alleviating the humanitarian crisis for Syrian refugees in Turkey. As many as 1.7 million Syrian refugees could return to their homes under the new plan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said. The plan called for a select group of Syrian rebels to monitor the situation on the ground to prevent ISIS from returning. Until now, it has been unclear which Syrian rebel factions would participate on the monitoring team, but both sources interviewed said the Turkmen force, which consists of some soldiers from previously established rebel groups in nearby Aleppo, would lead the fight. Other rebel groups would follow, they said. Rebel groups in the northern part of Syria are interested in joining the team monitoring the safe zone because they see it as a chance to garner valuable cash and weapons. However, not every rebel group would be a part of that team as the rebel groups in Syria, especially in the north, are split in their allegiances to Turkey and the U.S.Fight For Land, Power While many rebel leaders used to fall under one umbrella group, the Free Syrian Army, they recently separated into two groups and were duking it out for land and power. Among them are the hard-line Islamist fighters with known battlefield strength, but with an extremist Muslim ideology, as well as the more moderate groups known for their popularity among the people of Aleppo, who, while still devoutly Muslim, do not want the implementation of Shariah law, or conservative Islamic regulations, in the post-war era. Finding a rebel force with a common ideology and strategy to carry out the monitoring of the buffer zone will be difficult, rebels in Aleppo recently told IBTimes. The weapons, they said, will end up falling into the hands of groups that have different ideologies and goals.Other rebel groups are against working with the U.S. and Turkey altogether because they do not believe in the mission. Jabhat al-Nusra, the al Qaeda offshoot in the country, released a statement Monday announcing the group was withdrawing its forces from the Aleppo area, claiming it did not want to be involved in the mission.Turkish officials acknowledged the beginning of the military operation when Foreign Ministry undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu said Tuesday that the U.S. and Turkey had finalized details on the safe zone. Members of the Islamic State group and Kurdish militants who try to infiltrate the safe-zone will immediately be "neutralized by both Turkish and US military forces," the statement said.Although Turkmen fighters have been seen entering Syria to establish the safe zone, no U.S. forces have taken part in the mission so far. About six U.S. F-16 fighter jets arrived Sunday at the Incirlik air base in eastern Turkey, but had not yet been deployed in airstrikes.


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Ahrar Al-Sham declares support for Turkey’s ISIS-free zone plan. Turkey has decided to wipe out the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) from northern Syria as it considers the group a threat to its national security. The United States also supports the plan and has declared that the two countries will cooperate to create an ISIS-free zone. One of the main opposition groups, Ahrar Al-Sham, declared its support for the plan after the al-Qaida-affiliated al-Nusra Front rejected Turkish-American cooperation in the area. The U.S. has long rejected Turkish and other requests for a no-fly zone to halt Syrian government air raids, fearing it would draw U.S. forces further into the civil war. Turkish warplanes started striking militant targets in Syria last week, following a long-awaited agreement allowing the U.S. to launch its own strikes from Turkey's strategically located İncirlik Air Base. It was controversial how the other opposition groups in the area would react to the idea of ISIS-free zone. Al-Nusra Front rejected cooperation with Turkey against the group. In a statement released by the organization on Sunday, the Turkish-U.S. plan to drive ISIS militants from the Syrian-Turkish border area has been criticized, saying the aim was to serve "Turkey's national security," claiming that the no-fly zone plan aims to prevent the establishment of a Kurdish state on its southeastern border, rather than to fight President Bashar Assad. "Facing this current scene, our only option was to withdraw and leave our frontline positions [with ISIS] in the northern Aleppo countryside for any fighting faction in these areas to take over," al-Nusra Front said. Reportedly, fighters from the organization commenced withdrawing from the villages of Hiwar Kalas, Shmareen, and Bragheed - east of Azaz - along with its bases in Azaz on Wednesday evening after a meeting between representatives of the group and the main Syrian opposition factions operating in the area. It is known that the organization is at war with ISIS in several parts of Syria. The organization declared in the statement that they would maintain the frontlines in ISIS areas including in Hama province and the Qalamoun mountain range near the border with Lebanon. Free Syrian Army (FSA) commanders have also given support to Turkey as the group mostly suffers from ISIS attacks during its battle against the regime. Another opposition group Ahrar al-Sham declared its support for the plan yesterday in a statement. In the statement, released on its official Twitter account, the group said, "The Ahrar al-Sham movement sees that what Turkey has declared about its intention to establish a safe zone in northern Syria is very advantageous for the Syrian people, and is a necessity for the national security of Turkey, and to stop the terrorist and separatist projects of ISIS and the PKK, and stresses that the safe zone would reflect positively on the political and humanitarian situation of both countries." Underlining that the opposition groups have long been in favor of the plan, the statement said: "Establishing the safe zone has been in popular demand since the start of revolution in Syria. The delay in this project caused the death of tens of thousands of Syrians and caused more damage to the infrastructure in the country."Accordingly, the Islamic Ahrar al-Sham movement supports establishing the safe zone in northern Syria, with the support of Turkey, and cooperation with other rebel groups. It is also considering a lively project to enhance the humanitarian situation in northern Syria, and is enabling refugees to go back to their homes and stand against the enemies of the revolution," the statement read. The group also highlighted the good relations between the people of the two countries and said, "Ahrar al-Sham also stresses on the crucial and organic bond between the Syrian and Turkish people, which makes the strategic relationship between us [Syria] and Turkey one of the essential elements in facing the current challenges and shaping the future of Syria." Touching on the sectarian policies of the Syrian regime and Iran, the statement said "At the same time, we call on all other armed rebellious movements for more cooperation and solidarity at the whole country level because the challenge and threat is not restricted to any region apart from others, as the Syrian regime has revealed its true intentions toward dividing Syria on a sectarian basis and giving it away to Iran. Therefore, we all have to stand up for the responsibility and build for the ambitions of our people at this crucial turning point in the history of our revolution."It is known that Ahrar al-Sham and ISIS are at war since the second group emerged as an


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independent power in Syria. The intensifying tension between the two groups led to clashes at the last weekend and, reportedly, as many as 100 fighters, loyal to Ahrar al-Sham, were killed by ISIS in Umm Hawsh near Turkish border. The biggest blow by ISIS to the group was on last October when ISIS militants killed 21 Ahrar al-Sham commanders through placing sarin gas in a meeting room. It was known that Ahrar al-Sham is one of the strict opponents of ISIS and accuses ISIS of undermining the Syrian revolution through declaring war on other opposition groups that are fighting against the Syrian regime, headed by President Bashar al-Assad. Ahrar al-Sham was one of the first armed groups that emerged to topple the regime and has been one of the best organized. It was founded in Hama and Idlib in early 2011 by former Islamist political prisoners and Iraq war veterans held in the Sednaya Prison north of Damascus after their release from jail in early 2011. The founders had a Salafist understanding of Islam but, as opposed to ISIS, were at peace with the traditions of people and other groups like the Sufis. The group has never been a part of the Western-backed FSA, but has also not refused to ally with them.The group never became a branch of al-Qaida either through consistently stating that their battle is limited to Syria. Ahrar al-Sham also sought to ally pragmatically with all groups fighting Assad's government, including al-Qaida's Nusra Front and Western-backed FSA factions. The group fought against Hezbollah, a Shiite faction allied with the Syrian regime, although there was no anti-Shiite rhetoric at the beginning. Officials had vowed to protect minority rights including those of Christians and members of several other beliefs.

ISIS inflicts the most damage on Islam, Muslims: Turkey’s religious authority. Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı) has prepared an extensive report which states that ISIS inflicts the most damage on Islam and Muslims, and that it should not be associated with Islam, while enlightening citizens, especially the youth about the dangers of the terrorist organization. The report, which contains numerous sections including the targets, tactics, slogans, and activities of ISIS was recently presented to Mehmet Görmez, the head of Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs. Accordingly, findings of the report are expected to be forwarded to mosques and local religious offices to be conveyed to the public during sermons.

Explaining the methods and tactics used by the terrorist organization to recruit members, the report states that ISIS exploits religious sentiment such as jihad and martyrdom to draw the youth's attention.The report highlights that the extermination of defenseless civilians contradicts Islamic principles. "It is not possible to draw parallels between a structure which builds itself on the extermination and deportation of civilians -including children and women who are victimized as a result of conflicts based on interest- with Islam," the report said. It was also noted that Islam does not permit Muslims to indiscriminately declare others as "unbelievers" and confiscate their properties or kill them. "All such activities are terrorism and those who carry out such activities are terrorists," the report added. The issue of jihad was also highlighted in the report, which stated that Islam does not allow killing or torturing women and children even in a state of war, while noting that Islam strictly prohibits killing prisoners of war after they are taken captive. It highlighted that beheadings have no precedence in Islam and that practices adopted by ISIS have nothing to do with Islam."It would be a major insult to Islam to claim all such terrorist activities stem from Islamic interpretation," Görmez said. He stated that it is crucial for all Islamic scholars, teachers and educational institutions throughout the world to touch upon this issue. Turkey is one of the first countries to declare ISIS a terrorist organization. On July 24, Turkey launched airstrikes against ISIS based on intelligence reports about an imminent attack against border patrol units. Mehmet Görmez had previously denounced ISIS for portraying a wrongful image of Islam and Muslims, and he had highlighted that they contradict the notion of Islam, which is based on peace, toleration, understanding and love.


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ISIS was once part of al-Qaeda but was disowned by the organization due to its aggressive stance against other opposition groups in Syria, including al-Qaeda's official Syrian branch, Jabhat al-Nusra. Their attacks have killed and displaced thousands of people in Iraq and continue to threaten the lives of millions of people throughout the region.


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Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri The Coordinator 2015 Part 17-52-The Deep Battle against the West

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