20 January 2010 / TODAY’S ZAMAN WITH WIRES, İSTANBUL
The head of al-Qaeda in Turkey, Serdar Elbaşa -- who is also known by the codename Abu Zer -- was captured during operations conducted by counterterrorism teams in Ankara and the southern city of Adana on Monday, several reports have claimed.
In addition to Elbaşa, 30 other suspects were detained on the charges of being members of al-Qaeda. Elbaşa was reportedly recruiting new al-Qaeda members in Turkey and collecting money for Chechens fighting against Russia in the Caucasus region on behalf the terrorist organization. He had to leave Turkey for some time because of a dispute between the Chechen groups and al-Qaeda over the money the latter collected for Chechen fighters but he later returned. Elbaşa reportedly has four wives and 15 children.
The Anatolia news agency reported that some of the alleged al-Qaeda members captured in Adana told police during their interrogations that they had been trained in al-Qaeda terrorist camps in Afghanistan. It is also claimed that the suspects collected money to support the terrorist organization financially.
Sources say the suspects were trying to recruit new al-Qaeda members in Adana’s Çukurova district. The suspects are expected to be sent to court after being questioned.
