Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front

The extremely anti-Semitic and anti-Christian Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front (IBDA-C) has allegedly been active in Turkey since the 1970s, but was officially “founded” in 1985. With the stated aim of replacing Turkey's secular government with Islamic rule, the group has been most active in the region around Istanbul since 1993. The group's alleged leader, Salih Izzet Erdis, was arrested in 1998 and remains in prison

The IBDA-C, the more independent of the two well-known radical Islamic activist groups in Turkey, was first heard from in 1989 after it held demonstrations in Istanbul; the group has been aggressive since the beginning of the 1990s. Targeting Turkish secularism, the group's members have murdered scores of journalists, politicians, and academics outspoken in their defense of a secular Turkey.

Erdis, the leader of the IBDA-C, is also known by the name Salih Mirzabeyoglu and is referred to as “commander” ...