Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that the country's intelligence forces have killed the leader of ISIS in Syria. He said that Turkey's National Intelligence Organization had been tracking a man known as Abu al-Husseini Al-Qurshi "for a long time" and that they will continue their fight without discrimination against terrorist organizations.
The announcement came after a recent absence from the public eye due to illness, with media reports speculating about his health deterioration just two weeks before a crucial election. Erdogan made his return to the public stage on Saturday at an aviation festival in Istanbul. Turkey goes to the polls on May 14 amidst soaring inflation, currency crisis, and recovery efforts following a devastating earthquake.
According to President Erdogan, Turkish intelligence forces executed the raid near Jinderes town in northern Syria controlled by Turkey-backed rebel groups. The area was among those most affected by February 6th earthquake which hit both Turkey and Syria.
There was no immediate statement from ISIL (ISIS) regarding this development or any comment from Syrian National Army—an opposition faction maintaining security presence in the region. Local residents reported skirmishes between Turkish intelligence agents and military police backed by Turkey near an abandoned farm used as an Islamic school.
ISIL took control of vast regions across Iraq and Syria back in 2014 under then-leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi who declared an Islamic caliphate spanning millions of people within its territory.
In confirming this latest operation against ISIL leadership, President Erdogan revealed how MIT—Turkey's national intelligence agency—successfully carried out an overnight raid killing suspected ISIS chief Abu Hussein al-Qurashi. This follows another joint US-Turkish helicopter assault conducted mid-April targeting senior IS group leaders operating inside northern Syria; resulting attacks left at least 41 individuals dead including 24 civilians.
Despite losing significant ground since its peak territorial control, the IS group continues to launch assaults throughout Syria. In October 2019, Washington announced that it had killed IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a separate operation within northwestern Syria.
As Turkey approaches its May 14th elections, President Erdogan has made clear that his government remains committed to fighting terrorism and will continue their operations against ISIL as well as other extremist groups.