Turkey kills ISIS leader in Syria, announces President Erdogan

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared on Sunday (local time) that Turkey had killed Daesh/Islamic State terrorist organization commander Abu Hussein al-Qurashi in Syria.

Erdogan remarked in a live interview on Turkish television TRT Turk that their national intelligence organization has been following Daesh’s “so-called” head, Abu Hussein al-Qurayshi, for a long time. “This is the first time I am telling this here. This person was neutralized in an operation carried out by the MIT yesterday,” President Erdogan said.

He also stressed that Turkey will continue to fight terrorist organisations without distinction. As reported by Anadolu Agency, Turkey was among the first countries to name Daesh/ISIS a terrorist organization in 2013.

Since then, the terror group has targeted the country several times, killing over 300 people and injuring hundreds more in at least ten suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks, and four armed assaults. In response, Turkiye launched anti-terror operations at home and abroad to prevent further attacks.

Racism, Islamophobia, and prejudice are on the rise in West: Turkey President Erdogan

Turkey’s President stated in an interview that racism, Islamophobia, and prejudice are on the rise in the West “like cancer cells,” he further went on to say “Western countries have not yet demonstrated efforts for confronting this threat.”

Hate speech and crimes against Muslims and mosques are also on the rise, he said, according to Anadolu Agency. “Vile acts by racist groups, such as arson against mosques and tearing up the holy Quran, have also increased … We take every step to ensure the safety of life and property of our citizens,” he said.

In recent months, Islamophobic people or groups in Northern Europe and the Nordic nations have committed or attempted to commit incidents of Quran burning.