Turkish cleric says Israel behind Islamic State

Turkish Shi'ite cleric: By forming and supporting the Islamic State Takfiri group, the Zionists are now employing that as an instrument, and pursuing their objectives in this way

By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON
ISIS fighter on a street in the city of Mosul, June 23, 2104. (photo credit: REUTERS)
ISIS fighter on a street in the city of Mosul, June 23, 2104.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Senior Turkish Shi’ite cleric, Sheikh Salahuddin Ozgunduz, blamed Israel for the emergence of the Islamic State terrorist group.
“By forming and supporting the Islamic State Takfiri group, the Zionists are now employing that as an instrument, and pursuing their objectives in this way,” the Turkish cleric told Iran’s Tasnim News Agency.
Ozgunduz called for Muslim nations to counter the growing threat of Takfiri groups, using both “military and cultural” approaches.
“Takfiri” is a term for a hardline Sunni who sees other Muslims as infidels, often as a justification for fighting or killing them. The Islamic State group, which controls parts of Iraq and Syria, is one of the groups to which Ozgunduz was referring.
“Apart from the military confrontation with the Takfiri groups, cultural approaches are needed to prevent young people from being lured by the ignorant ideas of those groups,” he said, according to the report.