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Al-Qaeda's al-Zawahiri threatens Turkey
CNN analysts claim the voice on the video matches that of al-Zawahiri.
"Let every free Turkish Muslim who is keen on protecting Islam and his fellow Muslims know that the Turkish forces will serve the Crusader campaign in Afghanistan, which is burning the villages, destroying the houses and killing the women and the children, occupying the lands of the Muslims, fighting the Shariah and spreading lewdness, debauchery and corruption," Zawahiri reportedly warned through the first publicized message to come from him in 2010.
Turkey has 1,755 troops serving with NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. Turkey is also involved in training Afghan security forces both in Turkey and in Afghanistan.
"The Turkish troops will carry out the same operations in Afghanistan that the Jews are carrying out in Palestine, so how would the pious, free Turkish Muslim people accept such a crime against Islam and the Muslims?" Zawahiri asked.
Turkish soldiers in Afghanistan do not participate in combat forces and only deal with security and reconstruction in urban areas, seen as the most respected and welcome by local Afghans.
Al-Zawahiri did not appear in person on the video; instead, a picture of him was shown throughout. The video was released by al-Qaeda's media company, As-Sahab Media.
CNN also asked Octavia Nasr, CNN's senior editor for Mideast affairs, how to interpret the video recording. While noting that the video is similar to other As-Sahab Media productions, Nasr says these kinds of videos are posted on radical Islamist Web sites for the purpose of recruitment and incitement. The date of the video could not be determined.
The 22-minute video also featured Muaath al-Turki, who is alleged to be Turkish, identifying himself as a soon-to-be martyr. When asked if he is happy or sad, he said he is sad only because he “can die only once for the sake of jihad.” The speech says al-Turki attacked the US base in Khost, Afghanistan, the same site of a deadly Dec. 30 attack killing seven CIA officials and a Jordanian army captain.
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