Turkey’s involvement in South Asia through Islamist groups like Popular Front of India (PFI), known to be an Islamist organization, is an alarming development for those watching global terror networks, and these linkages are not just limited to India, but to Pakistan and Syria also, through organizations like Al Qaeda and the ISIS (Islamic State).
PFI was launched in 2007 and is believed to be new front for the National Development Front (NDF) which was banned in 2001 by Indian authorities for its involvement in terrorism. Reportedly, NDF had also received funding from Pakistan and Iran. PFI also has linkages to Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). PFI’s National Executive Council member, P. Koya held high positions in NDF and SIMI respectively. Similarly, PFI vice president EM Abdul Rahiman and E. Abu Bakar both held top positions at SIMI.
There are recent reports by independent Turkish media that say PFI was also hosted in Turkey. A Turkish intelligence-linked jihadist charity group networked with PFI as part of the Turkish government’s outreach to Muslim communities in the South Asia region.
According to a Nordic Monitor investigation, two key leaders of the PFI, E. M. Abdul Rahiman and Prof. P. Koya (members of the National Executive Council of the PFI) were privately hosted in Istanbul by the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri ve İnsani Yardım Vakfı, or IHH), an al-Qaeda-linked Turkish charity. İHH has been banned in Germany and Israel due to its terror support activities.
The meeting was held at IHH headquarters in Istanbul on October 20, 2018 and attended by IHH Secretary-General Durmuş Aydın and IHH Vice President Hüseyin Oruç. The representatives of both organizations discussed promoting a partnership in various fields.
The IHH is known to be have close links to the Turkish intelligence service MIT. The IHH has also been accused of smuggling arms to al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadists in Syria in January 2014 in a counterterrorism investigation conducted by Turkish prosecutors.
The investigation into a Turkish al-Qaeda cell found that İbrahim Şen, a top al-Qaeda operative who was detained in Pakistan and jailed at Guantanamo until 2005 before he was turned over to Turkey, his brother Abdurrahman Şen and others were sending arms, supplies and funds to al-Qaeda groups in Syria with the help of Turkey’s intelligence service.