Religious Extremism

Turkey's Islamo-Nationalist Activism in US Shows in Erdogan's Schedule in Advance of UNGA

September 22, 2021

The US-targeted activism of Turkey's Islamo-nationalist regime is on display in the public events of the country's president on his current trip to New York for the opening of the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
Blair Institute Identifies Keys to Islamist Reform & Deradicalization

September 22, 2021

The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) has published a series of reports on theological developments in Islamism since 9/11, marking a shift in Islamism away from extremist interpretations of Islam and advocacy for violence.
Saudi Pragmatism Towards Taliban Reveals Competition Among Islamist Regimes

September 15, 2021

The Wahhabi monarchy in Saudi Arabia dispatched as emissary to the new Taliban Islamic Emirate regime in Afghanistan, in a sign that Saudi Arabia is already adopting a pragmatic approach to relations with the Taliban, in a calculus based on robust competition for ideological influence and national security interests among the hardline Islamist regimes of Saudi, Afghanistan, Iran, Qatar and Turkey.
Turkey's Judiciary Shows Signs of Shift to Islamic Jurisprudence

September 13, 2021

The high-profile presence and vocal interventions of Turkey's chief imam Ali Erbas, who heads the state's Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), offering a prayer at the annual opening of the country's Court of Cassation signals the ongoing Islamization of the state, and conforms to Erbas' public pronouncements about the logic of applying Islamic jurisprudence to regulate all aspects of social life.
Security Experts Pessimism over Post-9/11 Record of Pushback Against Jihadism

September 13, 2021

International security experts with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars evaluated trend lines since the 9/11 al-Qaeda attacks on the US and expressed pessimism about the past record and medium-term future of pushback against the global expansion of political Islamism and jihadism, highlighting the worldwide expansions of Islamist ideology through the use of social media and cyber platforms.
Intel Networks Deployed by Turkey Across Eurasia to Silence Opponents of Islamist Regime

September 08, 2021

From Europe to Central Asia, Turkey is using a network of corruption of local officials and intelligence gathering via Ankara-funded mosques and businessmen's associations to target actual and suspected opponents of the NATO-member's Islamist regime, including abductions, renditions, and online intimidation tactics deployed against Turkish citizens as well as citizens of other countries.
Taliban Financing Relies on Narcotics, Extortive Taxes, External Support

September 08, 2021

The Atlantic Council writes that the Taliban relies on an extensive regional and transnational network of primarily illicit activities to fund its Islamist militant activities, including revenues from narcotics trafficking, supplemented by extortive and arbitrary domestic taxes and revenue streams from shell companies abroad that deal in construction and other infrastructure sectors.
BBC News: Afghanistan: Qatar and Turkey Become Taliban's Lifeline to the Outside World

September 07, 2021

The Islamist regimes of Qatar and Turkey have taken the lead in opening diplomatic, economic, and security dialogue with the Taliban leadership of the new Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, signaling a move by Doha and Ankara to differentiate themselves ideologically from Islamist states such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which view radical Islamism as a threat to state security.
Osama Bin Laden's Security Chief Appears in Public in Afghanistan

September 07, 2021

The sighting of Osama bin Laden's security chief Amin al Haq in public in Afghanistan signals the ongoing ties between Al Qaeda (AQ) and the Taliban, as well as the porous borders between Afghanistan and Pakistan, as al Haq helped Osama bin Laden escape into Pakistan during the US assault on the AQ headquarters in Afghanistan's Tora Bora, while AQ fighters have supported the Taliban insurgency against US coalition forces over the past twenty years.
Turkey Signals Readiness for Cooperation with Taliban

August 25, 2021

Turkey has signaled the will to cooperate with the Taliban within the existing parameters of the three-year-old Strategic Partnership and Friendship Agreement signed between Ankara and the now-overturned Kabul government, as Turkey's president declared the shared ideological perspective of the NATO member and and a desire to develop military cooperation.