A member of the jihadist foundation joined Erdogan's official delegation to the United States and attended UN sessions

Levent Kenez/Stockholm

brahim Beinci, head of the jihadist organization TGVA (Turkey Youth Foundation), funded by the Turkish government, was part of the official delegation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his visit to New York, from September 21 to 26, for the United Nations General Assembly. Beinci attended the United Nations General Assembly and listened to speeches by world leaders from guests' balconies.

TGVA, which operates as an extension of Turkey's intelligence services under the guise of an NGO, has a secret mandate to recruit young people in Turkey and diaspora communities abroad to help support President Erdogan's Islamist regime . The foundation, under the patronage of Erdogan's son Bilal, manages dozens of university residences across Turkey, has access to public schools through cultural cooperation programs and actively promotes political Islam in line with the ideology of Muslim Brotherhood.

In a post on We witnessed another speech that will be remembered throughout history, practically a lesson in itself. He has always been the loudest voice of the oppressed and the innocent. May Allah never take it away from us.

On September 15, Beinci participated in the “Great Family Gathering” organized by pro-government associations and declared: “We are against LGBT propaganda, which spreads its poison in all areas under the guise of individual rights and freedoms, as well as than against terror. it creates.

TGVA had already taken the lead on the first day of 2024 as tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Istanbul to protest Israeli military actions in Gaza, attracting widespread attention. Reports indicate that Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), responsible for mosques across the country, asked imams in Istanbul to join the protest and encourage their congregations to participate as well. During the rally, a number of young participants wore kaffiyehs resembling those worn by Abu Ubaida, spokesperson for the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, with their faces covered during their march. Abu Ubaida has gained prominence among circles aligned with radical Islamist groups in Türkiye, being hailed as a hero.

In February, TGVA organized a Wushu Kung Fu (Chinese martial art emphasizing combat techniques) tournament in the town of Yalova in solidarity with Gaza. As noted in the foundation's social media posts regarding the tournament, the hope is that every young TGVA participant will emulate Abu Ubaida.

In 2021, leaked photos from TGVA's confidential archives revealed the foundation's jihadi-style training camps for youth in Turkey and the Turkish diaspora in Europe and the United States. The photos showed young men posing under jihadist banners, attending lectures by clerics and making a hand gesture with an upward pointing finger, associated with jihadists from groups like Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The images were stored in a folder titled Action Camp (Aksiyon Kamp), comprising 12 photos intended for internal use and were shared with the TGVA board of directors, indicating that the activities were approved by the company's senior management. foundation.

One of the clerics invited to the TGVA camp was Nurettin (or Nureddin) Yldz, a Turkish jihadist and anti-Semitic cleric known for advocating armed jihad. Yldz characterizes democracy as a system for infidels, saying it can only serve as a tool of deception to gain power. It was also he who radicalized the young jihadist police officer responsible for the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov in December 2016. Despite his involvement as an accomplice to the murder, the government put him on trial. shelter from prosecution.

In 2021, TGVA organized a summer camp for high school girls with the motto Jerusalem awaits you. The girls' camp had a special guest, Smeyye Erdogan, the president's daughter and wife of Seluk Bayraktar, whose family company produces drones used by the Turkish military. Smeyye participated in several activities, including archery and a visit to the sports track. She went on stage in the evening to cheers and addressed the young people present. With a banner behind it saying Jerusalem awaits you. Rushing to help as Salah ad-Din did, in reference to a sultan considered a hero by Muslims who conquered Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187, she also had a surprise for the audience. She called her father on his cell phone and asked him to address the students, who shouted excitedly when they learned the president was on the line.

TGVA had also previously participated in Erdogan's official delegations. Nordic Monitor had reported that the Turkish Foreign Ministry helped two TGVA agents linked to Turkish intelligence services obtain Schengen visas from the Belgian consulate in Istanbul using diplomatic channels to speed up the process. According to leaked documents, on May 19, 2017, the ministry sent an urgent diplomatic note to the Belgian embassy in Ankara requesting assistance in obtaining visas for two foundation officials. The memo vouches for Smail Emanet, then president of TGVA, and his deputy, Sekin Ko, saying their visit to Brussels was linked to a NATO summit and that they were part of Erdogan's official delegation for the event on May 25, 2017.