IHH's Ties to Turkey's AKP Government

Tamar Sternthal
CAMERA/Snapshots
27 January '11

http://blog.camera.org/archives/2011/01/ihhs_ties_to_turkeys_akp_gover.html

In the New York Times' feature this week on Turkey's Foreign Minister ("Turkey's Role in Middle East is Bolstered by Vision of Foreign Minister"), Ahmet Davutoglu insists that he did all he could to convince the IHH to cancel the departure of the Mavi Marmara, and reporter James Traub doesn't contradict him:

In the spring of 2010, a Turkish charitable organization, I.H.H., chartered the flotilla designed to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Davutoglu says that he tried to persuade the group not to sail and then asked the organizer of the flotilla to turn aside if Israel stopped the ships, as it was certain to do, and to offload the cargo at a port outside Gaza if necessary.

Taub describes Ankara's apparent orchestration of the Mavi Marmara's confrontation with Israeli forces as merely an Israeli "view." A report released today by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC) details the close ties between IHH (described by Traub only as a Turkish charitable organization) and "the upper echelons of the Turkish regime," including the government's "logistical support" and "political-propaganda protection."

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Will the Turkish Flotilla Group Be Named as Terrorists?

Jonathan Schanzer
Foreign Policy
20 August '10

It's not every day that House Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) and Ed Royce (R-CA), the ranking member of terrorism subcommittee of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, agree on anything. But, when it comes to the terrorist connections of one particular Turkish charity, there's no daylight between them. These legislators recently sent a letter to Stuart Levey, the under secretary for terror finance at the Treasury Department, stating that evidence "strongly supports" designating the Turkish charity IHH (Insan Haklari Ve Hurriyetleri Vakfi) under Executive Order 13224 for its support of terrorist groups, and urging Levey to take action.

IHH, by way of background, sponsored the ill-fated flotilla designed to break Israel's blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip in late May. And though the Israeli military has come under intense fire for a confrontation that led to nine deaths on the high seas, legislators are increasingly convinced, based on a growing body of evidence, that IHH could meet the Treasury's legal criteria for terrorist designation.

Other influential members of Congress are getting in the act, too. Representative Ron Klein, a Democrat from Florida, has also asked the government to scrutinize IHH. He sent a letter to the State Department last month asking its counterterrorism department to consider a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) listing. Last week, Richard Verma from State's Office of Legislative Affairs responded with a letter indicating that the Turkish charity may not qualify as an FTO, but that "U.S. government agencies are taking a close look at IHH" for Treasury designation because "serious questions of support to terrorist organizations have been raised."

(Read full article)

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Are German IHH and Turkish IHH related?

Elder of Ziyon
12 July '10

Today we saw many news stories about the German government banning the IHH - the Internationale Humanitäre Hilfsorganisation - "charity" organization because of its ties with Hamas:

Germany's government has banned an organization it accuses of collecting donations that are sent to Hamas-related welfare projects. The Islamist movement is included on the European Union's terror group blacklist.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said in a statement that the International Humanitarian Relief Organization was banned Monday because it has used donations to support projects in Gaza that are related to Hamas – while presenting their activities to donors as humanitarian help.

"Under the guise of humanitarian aid, the IHH has long backed, with significant financial assistance, so-called social welfare organizations based in the Gaza Strip that can be linked to Hamas," he said.

"Donations to so-called social welfare groups belonging to Hamas, such as the millions given by IHH, actually support the terror organization Hamas as a whole."

All of these stories take pains to say that this IHH is not related to the Turkish organization with the same initials, which was involved in attacking IDF soldiers on the Mavi Marmara.

(Read full post)

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The Gaza flotilla and the dirty NGO war

Gerald Steinberg
Canadian Jewish News
08 July '10

The images from the “peace” flotilla to Gaza exposed the tactics of powerful non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that lead the strategy of political warfare targeting Israel.

In the May 31 flotilla attack, IHH – a Turkish “charity” with close links to Hamas and jihadist groups – combined forces with European anti-Israel campaigners, including the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). Members of both groups co-operate with terrorists that goad Israel into using force, resulting in injuries and deaths. They know how to unleash massive diplomatic and political campaigns using false charges of “war crimes,” “collective punishment” and similar allegations.

The Israeli government has been remarkably and depressingly inept in dealing with this third-generation warfare (following conventional army attacks from 1948 to 1973, and the ongoing terror campaigns). In the case of the IHH-ISM “free Gaza” flotilla, the IDF and Defence Ministry were surprised by the violence, and the political leadership, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, didn’t anticipate the international pressure to end the Gaza blockade. (When they acted to allow most civilian goods into Gaza, it was another case of too little, too late.)

In order to defeat this third-generation warfare, which has already done considerable damage, we need to assess the threat and find the right strategy. Understanding NGO exploitation of moral principles is the first step. The IHH and ISM were supported by a wide network, including the major NGO superpowers (Amnesty International, Oxfam, Human Rights Watch) and many local partners. This network creates the environment that automatically condemns Israel, while portraying Palestinians as helpless victims.

(Read full article)

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Documents of the Free Gaza movement seized in the recent flotilla

Inside documents of the Free Gaza movement seized in the recent flotilla expose considerable discrepancies between its strategy and tactics and its public stance. The documents prove, among other things, the attempts to conceal the aid to the Hamas administration since Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization in the US.

Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
27 June '10

1. Established in 2006, the Free Gaza movement (hereinafter: Free Gaza) is a pro-Palestinian/pro-Hamas group whose stated purpose is to “break the siege” imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip following the Hamas takeover. Free Gaza is registered in Cyprus as a human rights project and is headquartered in Nicosia. Its website says that Free Gaza has branches in 28 countries, including 11 in Europe, 5 in North America (4 in the US and one in Canada), and a branch in Israel (referred to on the movement's website as “Palestine 1948 territories”). The organizational framework of Free Gaza also includes the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), which also took part in the latest flotilla.

2. Free Gaza played an important role in the coalition of organizations which orchestrated the latest flotilla, even though the dominant force was the Turkish IHH. Free Gaza started sending aid flotillas to the Gaza Strip in 2008. Prior to the latest flotilla, Free Gaza was able to send four other aid flotillas to the Gaza Strip:

a. August 2008: two ships departed from Cyprus and arrived at the port of Gaza on August 23 (BBC, August 23, 2008).

b. October 2008: a yacht named Dignity with 26 activists and medical supplies on board arrived in Gaza on October 29 (JTA, October 29, 2008).

c. December 2008: the same yacht, Dignity, with about 3 tons of medical supplies, attempted to penetrate the waters of Gaza but was stopped by the Israeli navy (ynet, December 30, 2008).

d. June 2009: a ship called Spirit of Humanity, which attempted to reach Gaza on June 30, was stopped by the Israeli navy near the Gaza port (Jerusalem Post, June 29, 2009).

(Read full report)

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Why Is the State Department Covering for a Known Terror Group?

Moshe Dann
pajamasmedia.com
12 June '10

Why is the U.S. government covering for IHH, a Turkish “charity” organization with ties to terrorists?

A State Department spokesman told Fox News that the IHH (Humanitarian Relief Foundation) has not been designated as a foreign terrorist organization. He added:

We are fully committed to taking appropriate action against foreign groups engaging in terrorist activity in order to prevent such groups from obtaining the resources and support needed to undertake terrorist activity.

The Treasury Department, which is mandated to implement Executive Order 13224, was even more evasive. Asked if they had seen Danish, French, and Turkish intelligence reports and other information on the IHH, a Treasury official acknowledged that the NGO is not on their “Specially Designated Nationals List,” and would not “comment on other governments’ intelligence.”

This is not about Israeli security; it is about threats to American homeland security.

A foreign NGO with a documented history of contacts with terrorists has been directly linked with Islamist terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda, and government agencies tasked with protecting America have suddenly become impotent and ignorant. Concerns about keeping Turkey pro-Western and in NATO are legitimate, but they do not override American security needs. An important U.S. ally, Turkey is increasingly moving towards radical Islamism, embracing Iran and its own jihadists.

(Read full article)

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