Turkey Fears New Homegrown Terror Threat

Aydin Kara, a Turkish man who was injured in the synagogue bombing, is helped by police officers during a ceremony in front of the Neve Shalom Synagogue in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2006. Relatives and friends of the bombing victims gathered near the Neve Shalom Synagogue to commemorate the 2003 suicide attack on the synagogue. The November 2003 attacks on Neve Shalom, the Beth Israel synagogues, the British Consulate and a British bank in Istanbul killed more than 60 people. Turkish officials have charged more than 70 suspected members of a Turkish al-Qaida cell in connection with those bombings. (AP Photo/Murad Sezer) (Murad Sezer - AP)

Emin Demirel, a Turkish terrorism expert, said going to Iraq to fight U.S.-led forces has strong appeal among some Turkish Muslims, and that images of attacks on mosques provide propaganda for recruitment efforts. U.S.-led forces have raided Iraqi mosques suspected of harboring militants or weapons caches.

In an Istanbul court this week, a suspect who proudly claimed responsibility for the attacks in the city in 2003 called for more bombings.

"Don't relax: We should increase our support for jihad more than ever," said Harun Ilhan. "With God's help, we will be the ones that clinch victory."

There are several homegrown radical Muslim groups in Turkey, but al-Qaida's austere and violent interpretation of Islam receives little public backing in the country, where a moderate understanding of Islam is predominant.

However, some radical Muslims regard Turkey's friendship with Israel, the United States and Britain _ as well as efforts to join the European Union _ as tantamount to treason. The country is still debating the role of religion in the officially secular state.

"Al-Qaida finds support in Turkey using the same tools and recruiting techniques that are 'tried and true' in other Western nations," said Nick Pratt of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany. "Some Turkish citizens are upset that they are not allowed to integrate in Europe, while other citizens are fearful of creeping modernization, which is perceived as destroying traditional life."

The fall of Ebu Bekir Yigit while fighting in Iraq has made him a hero for like-minded Muslims.

"You might feel sorry for me time to time, but don't forget I left home to help Muslims," Yigit wrote. "You should be proud of me."