Nordic Monitor reports religious extremist Halis Bayancuk being allowed by Turkish authorities to operate charity front from prison cell

ANKARA / DAYRO ZCURO, Syria — In a recent report, the Nordic Monitor reported on the ties between Turkish authorities and religious extremist organizations.

In its report, the Nordic Monitor stated that Kurdish Salafi and Turkish citizen Halis Bayancuk, also known as Abu Hanzala, has been running a charity as a front to raise money for his extremist organization.

“The group has in fact expanded its operations with a new entity called Ecir Kapısı Hizmet Eğitim ve Kültür Derneği, a front charity that helps raise funds for the group, established in April 2019,” reads the report.

Bayancuk encouraged young men to join Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (ISIS).

Following his arrest in 2014 as part of a police campaign against Islamist groups, Bayancuk was released by the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and allowed to preach freely.

“In July 2015 an emboldened Hanzala led hundreds of his supporters in Eid prayers in Istanbul after which they criticized the Turkish government and made a call for war,” states the report. “As part of his 14-minute speech, he criticized democracy and called for the formation of a state governed by religious law.”