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Turkish officials cancel green passport of Islamic scholar Gülen

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İSTANBUL, TODAY’S ZAMAN Report
The governor’s office of the eastern province of Erzurum has cancelled the green passport of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, citing some alleged irregularities in his obtaining the passport in 1990, the Turkish media reported on Friday.

Gülen, who resigned from the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) as a religious official and preacher in 1981, obtained the green passport after an application to officials in 1991 following adoption a new law that enabled resigned public servants to acquire passport.

Turkey’s green passport is a special passport that allows the bearer to travel visa-free to certain countries.

It is yet unclear whether Gülen will be able to obtain a normal Turkish passport or face any difficulties with travel following the cancellation.

The decision came after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stepped up his inflammatory rhetoric against the Hizmet movement, inspired by Gülen, accusing the Islamic scholar of plotting to unseat him, a claim which has been firmly denied by Gülen.

Nurullah Albayrak, Gülen’s lawyer, said the decision to cancel the scholar’s passport is politically motivated and has no legal basis. He said Gülen was granted a green passport after his application to the relevant authorities following the adoption of Article 4 of Law No. 5682, which allows certain state officials and retired or resigned public servants to apply for a green passport after a review of their status during their work.

Article 4 also allows those who have resigned from their posts to obtain a green passport after an extensive assessment of their profiles by the authorities. Albayrak underlined that the Religious Affairs Directorate had offered an endorsement for Gülen’s application in 1990 which had paved the way for Gülen to receive the passport.

Officials in the Erzurum governor’s office, however, claimed that the Religious Affairs Directorate’s endorsement was inconsistent with the legal requirements and was not legally enough to grant Gülen the green passport at that time.

Albayrak, however, dismissed that claim.

YouTube ban: How Turkish officials conspired to stage Syria attack to provoke war #kessab (Video)

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RT Published time: March 28, 2014

“I’ll make up a cause of war by ordering a missile attack on Turkey.” This leaked conversation is coming back to haunt the highest echelons of the Turkish government as it plans a provocation in Syria, while scrambling to Turkish-officials-conspired-to-stage-Syria-attackcontain social media internally.

The leaked audiotapes that reveal Turkey’s highest ministers staging an anti-Assad military intervention in Syria, have already caused YouTube to be shut down in the country, as well as leading to fevered accusations of treachery and betrayal of Turkey’s political interests – “a declaration of war,” as Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu put it.

This is of course after intelligence chief Hakan Fidan suggested seizing the opportunity to secure Turkish intervention in the Syrian conflict – a war that has already claimed 140,000 lives, and counting. In the conversation, Davutoğlu is heard saying that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sees any attack as an “opportunity” to increase troop presence in Syria, where it has staunchly supported the anti-Assad rebels.

Below is a transcript of that conversation in full. The video can be found below.

Ahmet Davutoğlu:
“Prime Minister said that in current conjuncture, this attack (on Suleiman Shah Tomb) must be seen as an opportunity for us.”

Hakan Fidan:
“I’ll send 4 men from Syria, if that’s what it takes. I’ll make up a cause of war by ordering a missile attack on Turkey; we can also prepare an attack on Suleiman Shah Tomb if necessary.”

Hakan Fidan: 

“I’ll send 4 men from Syria, if that’s what it takes. I’ll make up a cause of war by ordering a missile attack on Turkey

Feridun Sinirlioğlu:
“Our national security has become a common, cheap domestic policy outfit.”

Yaşar Güler:
“It’s a direct cause of war. I mean, what’re going to do is a direct cause of war.”
——–
FIRST SCREEN:
Ahmet Davutoğlu: I couldn’t entirely understand the other thing; what exactly does our foreign ministry supposed to do? No, I’m not talking about the thing. There are other things we’re supposed to do. If we decide on this, we are to notify the United Nations, the Istanbul Consulate of the Syrian regime, right?

Feridun Sinirlioğlu: But if we decide on an operation in there, it should create a shocking effect. I mean, if we are going to do so. I don’t know what we’re going to do, but regardless of what we decide, I don’t think it’d be appropriate to notify anyone beforehand.

Feridun Sinirlioğlu: But if we decide on an operation in there, it should create a shocking effect. I 

mean, if we are going to do so. I don’t know what we’re going to do, but regardless of what we decide, I don’t think it’d be appropriate to notify anyone beforehand.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: OK, but we’re gonna have to prepare somehow. To avoid any shorts on regarding international law. I just realised when I was talking to the president (Abdullah Gül), if the Turkish tanks go in there, it means we’re in there in any case, right?

Yaşar Güler: It means we’re in, yes.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: Yeah, but there’s a difference between going in with aircraft and going in with tanks…

SECOND SCREEN:
Yaşar Güler: Maybe we can tell the Syrian consulate general that, ISIL is currently working alongside the regime, and that place is Turkish land. We should definitely…

Ahmet Davutoğlu: But we have already said that, sent them several diplomatic notes.

Yaşar Güler: To Syria…

Feridun Sinirlioğlu: That’s right.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: Yes, we’ve sent them countless times. Therefore, I’d like to know what our Chief of Staff’s expects from our ministry.

Yaşar Güler: Maybe his intent was to say that, I don’t really know, he met with Mr. Fidan.

Hakan Fidan: Well, he did mention that part but we didn’t go into any further details.

Yaşar Güler: Maybe that was what he meant… A diplomatic note to Syria?

Hakan Fidan: Maybe the Foreign Ministry is assigned with coordination…

THIRD SCREEN:
Ahmet Davutoğlu: I mean, I could coordinate the diplomacy but civil war, the military…

Feridun Sinirlioğlu: That’s what I told back there. For one thing, the situation is different. An operation on ISIL has solid ground on international law. We’re going to portray this is Al-Qaeda, there’s no distress there if it’s a matter regarding Al-Qaeda. And if it comes to defending Suleiman Shah Tomb, that’s a matter of protecting our land.

Yaşar Güler: We don’t have any problems with that.

Hakan Fidan: Second after it happens, it’ll cause a great internal commotion (several bombing events is bound to happen within). The border is not under control…

Feridun Sinirlioğlu:I mean, yes, the bombings are of course going to happen. But I remember our talk from 3 years ago…

Yaşar Güler: Mr. Fidan should urgently receive back-up and we need to help him supply guns and ammo to rebels. We need to speak with the minister. Our Interior Minister, our Defense Minister. We need to talk about this and reach a resolution sir.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: How did we get special forces into action when there was a threat in Northern Iraq? We should have done so in there, too. We should have trained those men. We should have sent men. Anyway, we can’t do that, we can only do what diplomacy…

Feridun Sinirlioğlu: I told you back then, for God’s sake, General, you know how we managed to get those tanks in, you were there.

Yaşar Güler: What, you mean our stuff?

Feridun Sinirlioğlu: Yes, how do you think we’ve managed to rally our tanks into Iraq? How? How did we manage to get special forces, the battalions in? I was involved in that. Let me be clear, there was no government decision on that, we have managed that just with a single order.

FOURTH SCREEN:
Yaşar Güler: Well, I agree with you. For one thing, we’re not even discussing that. But there are different things that Syria can do right now.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: General, the reason we’re saying no to this operation is because we know about the capacity of those men.

Yaşar Güler:

Look, sir, isn’t MKE (Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation) at minister’s bidding? Sir, I mean, Qatar is looking for ammo to buy in cash. Ready cash. So, why don’t they just get it done? It’s at Mr. Minister’s com

Ahmet Davutoğlu: But there’s the spot we can’t act integratedly, we can’t coordinate.

mand.

Yaşar Güler: Then, our Prime Minister can summon both Mr. Defence Minister and Mr. Minister at the same time. Then he can directly talk to them.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: We, Mr. Siniroğlu and I, have literally begged Mr. Prime Minster for a private meeting, we said that things were not looking so bright.

FIFTH SCREEN:
Yaşar Güler: Also, it doesn’t have to be a crowded meeting. Yourself, Mr. Defence Minister, Mr. Interior Minister and our Chief of Staff, the four of you are enough. There’s no need for a crowd. Because, sir, the main need there is guns and ammo. Not even guns, mainly ammo. We’ve just talked about this, sir. Let’s say we’re building an army down there, 1000 strong. If we get them into that war without previously storing a minimum of 6-months’ worth of ammo, these men will return to us after two months.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: They’re back already.

Yaşar Güler: They’ll return to us, sir.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: They’ve came back from… What was it? Çobanbey.

Yaşar Güler: Yes, indeed, sir. This matter can’t be just a burden on Mr. Fidan’s shoulders as it is now. It’s unacceptable. I mean, we can’t understand this. Why?

SIXTH SCREEN:
Ahmet Davutoğlu: That evening we’d reached a resolution. And I thought that things were taking a turn for the good. Our…

Feridun Sinirlioğlu: We issued the MGK (National Security Council) resolution the day after. Then we talked with the general…

Ahmet Davutoğlu: And the other forces really do a good follow up on this weakness of ours. You say that you’re going to capture this place, and that men being there constitutes a risk factor. You pull them back. You capture the place. You reinforce it and send in your troops again.

Yaşar Güler: Exactly, sir. You’re absolutely right.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: Right? That’s how I interpret it. But after the evacuation, this is not a military necessity. It’s a whole other thing.

SEVENTH SCREEN
Feridun Siniroğlu: There are some serious shifts in global and regional geopolitics. It now can spread to other places. You said it yourself today, and others agreed… We’re headed to a different game now. We should be able to see those. That ISIL and all that jazz, all those organisations are extremely open to manipulation. Having a region made up of organisations of similar nature will constitute a vital security risk for us. And when we first went into Northern Iraq, there was always the risk of PKK blowing up the place. If we thoroughly consider the risks and substantiate… As the general just said…

Yaşar Güler: Sir, when you were inside a moment ago, we were discussing just that. Openly. I mean, armed forces are a “tool” necessary for you in every turn.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: Of course. I always tell the Prime Minister, in your absence, the same thing in academic jargon, you can’t stay in those lands without hard power. Without hard power, there can be no soft power.

EIGTH SCREEN
Yaşar Güler: Sir.

Feridun Sinirlioğlu: The national security has been politicised. I don’t remember anything like this in Turkish political history. It has become a matter of domestic policy. All talks we’ve done on defending our lands, our border security, our sovereign lands in there, they’ve all become a common, cheap domestic policy outfit.

Yaşar Güler: Exactly.

Feridun Siniroğlu: That has never happened before. Unfortunately but…

Yaşar Güler: I mean, do even one of the opposition parties support you in such a high point of national security? Sir, is this a justifiable sense of national security?

Feridun Sinirlioğlu: I don’t even remember such a period.

NINTH SCREEN:
Yaşar Güler: In what matter can we be unified, if not a matter of national security of such importance? None.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: The year 2012, we didn’t do it 2011. If only we’d took serious action back then, even in the summer of 2012.

Feridun Sinirlioğlu: They were at their lowest back in 2012.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: Internally, they were just like Libya. Who comes in and goes from power is not of any importance to us. But some things…

Yaşar Güler: Sir, to avoid any confusion, our need in 2011 was guns and ammo. In 2012, 2013 and today also. We’re in the exact same point. We absolutely need to find this and secure that place.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: Guns and ammo are not a big need for that place. Because we couldn’t get the human factor in order…

 

US senators introduce resolution condemning Turkey for Twitter, YouTube ban

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WASHINGTON

n_64219_4U.S. Senators Chris Murphy and Ron Johnson have introduced a resolution condemning the Turkish government for blocking the social media sites Twitter and YouTube, and restricting freedom of expression.

“The touchstone of a modern and legitimate democracy is the freedom of expression enjoyed by its people. In 2014, a fundamental expression of that freedom is a people’s access to social media sites that allow them to share information and contribute to a conversation about the world around them,” said Murphy, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs.

“By allowing sites like Twitter and YouTube to remain blocked, Prime Minister Erdoğan is defying an order from his very own courts. If the Turkish government wishes to move toward eventual integration into the European Union, they should reverse course and respect the right of the Turkish people to exercise their basic democratic freedoms,” he added.

Johnson, Ranking Member of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs, said the government’s attempt to control what its citizens learn about their leaders was a reminded of how crucial freedom of speech is.

“It also reminds us how cautious we must be about any changes in the oversight of Internet governance. The ability of any private citizen to compete openly in offering information to others has made the Internet one of the greatest deregulatory success stories of all time. The Turkish shutdown of Twitter and YouTube for political purposes shows the danger of foreign governments gaining control over this incredible forum for liberty,” he said.

March/28/2014

When Turkey’s FM caught red handed he implies espionage from within ministry over Syria leak

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ANKARA

Ahmet Davutoğlu went ballistic after the leak, saying that everyone potentially implicated would be investigated.

Hurriyet daily news The leak of a recording of top security officials discussing possible military action in Syria to the video-sharing website YouTube is a violation of confidentiality of the State of the Republic of Turkey, thus no one and no institution will be immune from being investigated over the incident, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said.

“Everything and everybody is being investigated in the most meticulous way,” Davutoğlu said in an interview aired live on NTV news channel on March 28.

In response to a question urging him to elaborate, the minister said “everything” included an internal probe at his ministry too, while underlining the incident constituted a case of cyber-attack against the confidentiality of the state.

“There were ordinary pawns used in this tapping. Fellow staff members have been assessing alternatives which may be related to this tapping technology,” Davutoğlu first of all said, when boldly asked to name the perpetrators of the tapping and was reminded of the fact he earlier said, “They have been using the ‘parallel structure’ inside [the state].”

Davutoğlu’s remarks, since he used the term “parallel structure,” signals that the ongoing hostility between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the movement of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen is likely to reach a new high with the latest leak.

The term “parallel state” or “parallel structure” is commonly used by critics to refer to the Gülen movement. Gülen has been in voluntary exile in the United States for over a decade. The alleged “parallel state” is accused by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of orchestrating a corruption scandal to unseat him. The related investigation went public in mid-December 2013 and triggered a huge counter-reaction from the AKP, particularly in the judiciary, as it aimed to contain the damage from the probe, which involved the sons of three former ministers and businesspeople known to be close to the government.

“It is a room where a jammer is used,” Davutoğlu said, referring to a device system used as a measure against being tapped.

“Whichever hands that used these pawns; there is no difference between launching an attack via violating the border or tapping confidential meetings of the state. This is an open attack. Any other violation committed in a different way may remain local, such as violation [of the border] by a plane. However, if such a cyber-attack is launched at a meeting where military and security options were discussed, then it is no different than a military attack.”

Upon such an interpretation, Davutoğlu was asked whether the response would be “militaristic.”

“I’m just saying in regards to the content. Otherwise, Turkey is a state governed by the rule of law and [the response] would be given within these rules. First, the pawns; and then whoever is behind these pawns, them,” Davutoğlu said.

Deputy PM dismisses MİT role

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç has dismissed any possibility that the MİT could be involved with the leak. “Thinking that the MİT could have leaked it is inconceivable,” he said, describing the incident as “treason to the state.”

“This is an extremely complex situation. It would even be beyond [Turkish officials’] intelligence. If this is done by a [foreign service] without a spy inside, the technology used needs to be well-assessed,” Arınç said.

Meanwhile, a Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy accused one of the four officials attending the meeting of being a spy.

“The government constantly accuses [the Gülen] movement, calling them a parallel organization. But it is clear that there are other parallel organizations within the government. They are the ones who recorded the meeting,” Lütfü Türkkan told daily Hürriyet.

March/28/2014

Censorship of social media platforms must stop in Turkey, says OSCE media freedom representative

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By blocking access to social media platforms Turkey deliberately disregards the fundamental right to freedom of expression and freedom of the media, Dunja Mijatović, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media said OSCE Media FreedomThursday, according to the OSCE’s official website.

“Within one week, access to Twitter and YouTube has been blocked in Turkey,” Mijatović said. “A regulator exercising censorship by blocking is unacceptable in democracies, and it breaches numerous OSCE and other international standards that Turkey has committed to.”

On 27 March Turkey’s telecommunications authority (TIB) blocked YouTube in the country.

“I call on the authorities to preserve the free flow of information and media freedom both online and offline, and immediately restore access to YouTube. I also urge TIB to reinstate Twitter services without delay following yesterday’s court decision annulling the ban on the website,” Mijatović said.

AGBU to join Armenian Genocide commemoration events in Turkey

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March 28, 2014 – 17:54 AMT

177380PanARMENIAN.Net – The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) Europe, the European Grasroots Anti-racist Movement (EGAM) and the Turkish movement DurDe! (“Say Stop”) call upon all concerned to sign onto a public appeal issued on the occasion of the 99th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide that will be commemorated on April 24, 2014.

The appeal calls upon all Europeans to join in these commemorations in a spirit of “recognition, solidarity, justice, and democracy”.

The text has already received the support of such celebrities as public intellectual Bernard Henry-Levy, writer Tahar Ben Jelloun and international celebrity Charles Aznavour, as well as numerous civil society leaders from around Europe. The appeal is due to be published in newspapers in many countries in early April.

The campaign now also has a website at www.remember24april1915.eu, where supporters are invited to sign onto the appeal, as well as a Facebook page.

April 24 this year will be the second time a joint EGAM-AGBU Europe delegation takes part in the commemorations in Turkey. In addition to Istanbul, the three organizations are also involved in organizing genocide commemoration events in Van and Diyarbakir, in the east of the country.

Commenting on the commemorations to come, DurDe leader Levent Sensever said that “this question is very important for people in Turkey. How we resolve it will have an enourmous influence on what our country will be like in the future. DurDe aspires to a democratic society that does not tolerate impunity and that values its remaining diversity instead of promoting nationalism and prejudice. We also owe it to the Armenians to recognize the crime, to apologize and to see what should be done about it now.”

Benjaming Abtan, President of EGAM, noted that “Turkish society is at a historic turning point. A struggle is being waged between denialism on the one hand, and democracy on the other. This year, Turkish civil society will commemorate the genocide. Cities, such as Diyarbakir and Van, will commemorate it too. The State could soon be the last major institution to deny the truth of the genocide.”

Group of Armenia citizens ready to defend Syria’s Armenian-populated areas

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March 26, 2014 | 15:13

13424911523_76990d4e1f_bYEREVAN. – There are volunteers in Armenia who have expressed a wish to set up a volunteer detachment and head to Syria to protect the Armenian-populated areas (PHOTOS).

Several dozens of Armenian citizens, who on Wednesday staged a demonstration in front of the UN Office in Armenia, told the aforementioned to reporters.

“We want to form a 20-30 member detachment. We will inform the [Armenian] government about this idea.

“[But] for the most part, this detachment can help the Syrian Armenians emotionally, so they sense that their compatriots stand with them, and they will be with them at the moment of need,” initiative member Arman Mkhitaryan told Armenian-NEWS.am.

In his words, however, the UN’s silence on this matter is strange.

“We want to remind this organization the objectives it is called to serve. We condemn the UN’s silence; this is a crime, a silent acquiescence to Turkey’s actions,” Mkhitaryan added.

Subsequently, the protestors handed a respective letter to the UN Office in Armenia.

In the early morning on March 21, armed militants from the Jabhat al-Nusra Islamic terrorist group infiltrated into northern Syria’s Latakia Governorate, which is predominantly inhabited by Armenians and Alawites, from four directions. Two large groups of terrorists had launched the attack from Turkey. About 600 Kessab-Armenian families are currently sheltered in Latakia city. On March 23, Turkish fighter planes downed a Syrian military aircraft that was conducting a mission against the Islamic terrorists in Kessab. On Monday, a group of Armenian parliament members headed to Latakia.

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am

Istanbul Corruption-linked manager to get bonus payment

By

ISTANBUL, TODAY’S ZAMAN
suleyman_halkbankFORMER HALKBANK GENERAL MANAGER SÜLEYMAN ASLAN (PHOTO: TODAY’S ZAMAN)
Former Halkbank General Manager Süleyman Aslan, who was detained after a large-scale corruption investigation became public on Dec. 17, 2013, and was later released, is expected to receive a bonus from Halkbank worth as much as TL 60,000, media reported on Thursday.

The Taraf daily reported on Thursday that Aslan would receive a bonus payment on March 31 from Halkbank. The bank is readying for a reshuffle of its board in April. Sources have speculated that Aslan would lose his position as a board member. The news report raised criticism among market representatives that the bank was “awarding” the corruption suspect extra money. Following a request to be released by their lawyers, Aslan and eight other suspects who are accused of being involved in corruption and bribery were released by an İstanbul court on Feb. 14. Aslan was later rehired by Halkbank as a board member. The state-run bank had already appointed a new general manager to replace Aslan.

27 March 2014,

Turkey shuts off YouTube after ‘Syria invasion plan’ leak #savekessab

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RT Report Published time: March 27, 2014

Access to YouTube has been cut off in Turkey after an explosive leak of audiotapes that appeared to show ministers talking about provoking military intervention in Syria. Other social media have already been blocked ahead of Turkey-Syria-invasion-plan-leaktumultuous local elections.

The latest leaked audio recording, which reportedly led to the ban, appears to show top government officials discussing a potential attack on the tomb of Suleyman Shah, the grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire

The tomb is in Syrian territory, but protected by Turkish soldiers.

On the tape, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu is heard to say that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sees any attack as an “opportunity” to increase Turkish presence in Syria, where it has staunchly supported the anti-Assad rebels. Security chief Hakan Fidan then goes one step further, and suggests staging a fake attack to give Turkey a casus belli to intervene in the conflict.

Turkish officials have recently vowed to protect the tomb as its “national soil.”

The Foreign Ministry in Ankara reacted to the tape by issuing a statement, calling the leak a “wretched attack” on national security. It also claims the tape was “partially manipulated.”

“These treacherous gangs are the enemies of our state and people. The perpetrators of this attack targeting the security of our state and people will be uncovered in the shortest time and will be handed over to justice to be given the heaviest penalty,” the ministry said.

A source inside the office of President Abdullah Gül, who has taken a softer line than Erdoğan over the series of government leaks, told Reuters that access to YouTube may be restored if the sensitive content is removed, even though the original video has been deleted.

Invoking national security and privacy concerns has been the government’s tactic in fighting off a stream of leaks showing top officials engaging in unsavory or downright illegal practices.

Erdoğan has also repeatedly claimed that most of the audio recordings are fakes. He labeled the latest audio revelation “villainous” during a stump speech in Diyabakir.

Twitter, another popular source for leaks, has already been shut down in Turkey since March 20, after a court order.

Since then, the California-based social network and organizations have fought in several courts to have the decision reversed, calling it “disproportionate and illegal.”

A court ruling in Ankara on Wednesday supported the appeal, but the country’s regulator has a month to unblock Twitter, leading to speculation that any such move would only take place after the election.

The incumbent party also enjoys the benefit of robust privacy legislation passed last month, which makes it easy to cut off any website even before any violation has been legally proven.

The US has led the chorus of international condemnation, calling the government’s moves “censorship” tantamount to “21st century book-burning.”

 

Several Kurdish students including a son of an official in Iraqi Kurdistan join ihadists ISIS in Syria

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March 27, 2014

state7862ERBIL-Hewlêr, Kurdistan region ‘Iraq’,— A high-level Kurdish source revealed on Thursday, the enrollment of young Kurdish students including the son of a known official to Islamic-jihadists to fight in Syria.

According to Kurdish sources spoke previously for Shafaq news, eight young Kurds from Kurdistan Region have been killed so far in fighting in Syria.

The source, who asked for anonymity said that “7 Kurdish students at the Islamic Institute of the Ministry of Endowment joined fight in Syria after joining Islamic-jihadists from the ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Sham) linked to al-Qaeda terrorist organization.

According to the obtained information, one of the students is the son of a senior official in Kurdistan Ministry of Endowments.

He added that these students are all from Erbil province.

Since the intensification of the civil war in Syria, reports talk about enrollment of young Kurds from the cities of Kurdistan to Nusrah front and the ISIS to fight the Syrian government forces.

The Ministry of Endowment in Kurdistan Regional Government has accused the regional intelligence of recruiting young Kurds and urging them to go to fight in Syria.

The ministry also issued instructions to the imams and preachers in the region, calling to advise young people not to go to any place under the name of “jihad”.
Source: shafaaq.com | Ekurd.net