Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front
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The Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front (İslami Büyükdoğu Akıncılar Cephesi in Turkish, abbreviated IBDA-C) is an Islamic organization which follows the "Great East" ideology of Necip Fazil Kisakürek, a well-known Turkish author, poet, and Islamist ideologue. The group's self-proclaimed goal is to create a Sunni Islamic federate state in the Middle East and re-establish the Caliphate. They are notably hostile to Shia, Alevi, Christian and Jewish interests. It is considered a terrorist organisation by the European Union [1]
IBDA-C was founded in 1970 by Salih İzzet Erdiş, aka Salih Mirzabeyoglu. The group moved from rhetoric to violence in the 1990s, culminating in a series of 90 bombings and attacks in 1994.
After Erdiş's arrest and subsequent conviction on December 29, 1998, followed by the detention of many lower-ranking figures in the group, IBDA-C's activity seemed to quiet down. However, IBDA-C burst back into the headlines when it claimed responsibility for the dual synagogue bombing in Istanbul on November 15, 2003, which killed 24 and injured 255, as well as a subsequent attack on the HSBC Bank and British consulate on November 20, 2003 (see Istanbul Bombings). The second claim called the bombings a joint attack with Al Qaeda; the authenticity of the claim is disputed.
On November 29 police in Istanbul announced the arrest of a yet-unnamed man they stated had admitted to giving the order to suicide bombers to attack Beth Israel synagogue on November 15.
