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” by IBDA-C members. Erdis was arrested on December 29, 1998, and imprisoned in Turkey; he was tried at the Istanbul State Security Court for “attempting to replace the Secular Constitutional order with Islamic Sheriah rules.” The Turkish court sentenced him to death for “the armed attempt to overthrow the constitutional order.” Two of his cohorts were sentenced to 18 years in prison. Apparently, Erdis later tried to hang himself in his cell, but survived when a fellow inmate cut the rope.

[Page 152]The structure of the IBDA-C allows members to organize independently. Anyone familiar with and subscribing to the beliefs of the IBDA-C can form a group and begin to function autonomously, usually in groups of four or five that act as their own front, or teams, within the organization. Some past IBDA-C fronts have been called Ultra Force, Altinordu, Lazistan, and Union of Revolutionist Sufis.

Since the early 1990s, the group has claimed responsibility for attacks on left-wing, Western, and secular targets; it published a list of Jewish targets, murdered a famous film critic, and sent a dire warning to a Turkish TV journalist whom it accused of being “anti-Islam.” They have also targeted banks and taverns, even brothels and discotheques.

The number of IBDA-C members is unknown, but the IBDA-C name is well known throughout Turkey. While many have been imprisoned, the group remains active in publication and has many bookstores, Web sites, and print houses where meetings are held.

The front is suspected of the 1997 bombing of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Cathedral in Istanbul—an act strongly condemned by the United States. Its most notable attack, though, was the 1999 pipe bomb assassination of Ahmet Taner Kislali, a former minister, professor, respected newspaper columnist—and firm critic of Islamic fundamentalism.

Turkish authorities have continued to arrest and try IBDA-C members and have thus reduced their threat. According to Turkish officials, 20 separate operations were staged against IBDA-C in 1998 and 1999 leading to the capture of some 170 suspects and clarification of 35 acts of terror. The group still manages to make small attacks, however.