Islamist jihadist terrorists planned to attack a bustling shopping mall in central Moscow following the Crocus City Hall concert venue massacre on the outskirts of the Russian capital in late March, but Turkey’s intelligence service foiled the plot, according to a June 18 report published by Turkish daily Hurriyet.
Afghanistan-based Islamic State affiliate, Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP, or ISIS-K), claimed the Crocus City Hall attack, which authorities say took the lives of 145 people and allege was committed by four Tajik gunmen, who were migrant workers in Russia. Two months prior to that atrocity, Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on Santa Maria Catholic Church in Istanbul, which left one man dead and also led to the rounding up of Tajik citizens accused of committing the crime.
Hurriyet reported that as part of the investigation into the attack on the church, captured militants disclosed plans for what was intended to be an attack on the Moscow shopping centre. This intelligence, it said, was shared with Russian authorities, who then ensured the attack could not take place.
In April, amid fears that ISKP has recruited substantial numbers of radicalised Tajik citizens for terrorist operations, Turkey abolished its visa-free entry arrangements for Tajik nationals.
Two days after the Crocus City Hall attack, Russian newspaper Izvestia reported sources as saying that two of the four Tajik gunmen alleged to committed the terrorist assault on concertgoers probably received instructions for the armed attack when they travelled to Turkey.
It’s important to note that the hierarchy of ISKP is loosely arranged. The group is known to have told militants sympathetic to it that it will claim responsibility for any attack carried out on its behalf. ISKP has also encouraged sympathisers, who are not trained terrorists, to carry out attacks based on their own evaluations and decision-making. Such a reality can make it impossible to identify the instigator of an atrocity.
bne IntelliNews has observed that when looking more closely at how Turkey is used by jihadists, it can be seen that the country has, since 2011 when the Syria and Libya conflicts ignited, turned into a “jihadist hub”. And some jihadist groups, backed by the Turkish government, have fought Russia’s proxies in Syria and Libya.
“Turkey is a three-ring circus for all jihadist organisations from around the world,” wrote this publication’s correspondent.
Currently, Turkey, with an official population of 85mn, hosts more than 10mn migrants, including millions of jihadists who have fought in the wider region ranging from Afghanistan to Libya.
Just like all of the other international jihadist organisations, ISKP has networks in Turkey and has in fact carried out two headline attacks in Istanbul.
