Caliphate State Explained

Caliphate State
Native Name:Hilâfet Devleti
Kalifatstaat
Leader:Metin Kaplan
Foundation:1984
Banned:2001
Ideology:Sunni Islamism
Kaplanism
Headquarters:Cologne
Founder:Cemaleddin Kaplan
Religion:Sunni Islam

Caliphate State (;) is a Turkish Islamist group based in Cologne, Germany. It was banned by the German government in 2001.

History

The Caliphate State was founded in 1984 as the "Union of Islamic Community and Associations" in Cologne by Cemalettin Kaplan after he left a Millî Görüş organization due to ideological disagreements. It started to use the name "Anatolian Federated Islamic State" in 1992 and then changed it to "Caliphate State" in March 1994. It is strongly against the Republic of Turkey and aims to dissolve it.[1] It also views Diyanet and DİTİB as unauthentic and corrupt due to them being part of the Turkish government.[2] With the death of Cemalettin Kaplan in 1995, his son Metin Kaplan took over leadership of the organization. Metin Kaplan, who led the organization during its attempted attack on Turkish Republic Day, was arrested in Germany in 2000, and was extradited to Turkey in 2004. Metin Kaplan plead his innocence despite concurrently praising the attack as a Jihad.[3] Some members of the organization were arrested as a result of the operations carried out by Turkish police units on October 28, 1998 during the attempted Turkish Republic Day attacks.[4] [5]

The Caliphate State is a designated terrorist group in Turkey.[6] [7]

The group had an estimated 1,300 members at their peak, and its stronghold was in Cologne and other parts of North-Rhine Westphalia.

A weekly newspaper of the organization called Ümmet-i Muhammed was also published.[8]

Ban and legal actions

In 2001 the German government announced a ban of the organisation after it had been on the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution watchlist for many years.[9] [10]

Caliphate State challenged this decision in Federal Constitutional Court in 2003, which rejected the application, finding that the militant nature of the group made it unconstitutional and a threat to democracy.[11] Caliphate State appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, however the appeal was dismissed, with the court ruling that "banning of associations...deemed as a concrete and current threat to the principles and fundamental rights of the democratic constitutional order and to the rule of law is legitimate."[12]

The banning order stated that the group "violates the principle of democracy since it demands the primacy of the Sharia law over democratic institutions."[13]

In 2022 the Landeskriminalamt raided 50 locations, seized firearms and €270,000 in cash and arrested three individuals in connection with the activities of the organisation.[14]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Foreign Extremist Population Shrinking in Germany | DW | 13.05.2003 .
  2. Web site: 26 August 2022. 26 August 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220826075418/https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/karases-tutuklandi-39069816. 26 March 1999. Karases tutuklandı. live. Hürriyet (gazete)Hürriyet.
  3. Web site: 26 August 2022. 26 August 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220826075418/https://www.dw.com/tr/almanyada-kaplanc%C4%B1lara-bask%C4%B1n/a-62294816. 28 June 2022. Deutsche Welle Türkçe. Almanya'da "Kaplancılar"a baskın. live.
  4. "Hedef Anıtkabir'di". Milliyet: 6. 2 November 1998.
  5. Önder, Şuşoğlu (3 November 1998). "Kaplan için iade girişimi". Milliyet: 14.
  6. http://www.egm.gov.tr/temuh/terorgrup1.html Terörle Mücadele ve Harekat Dairesi Başkanlığı
  7. Book: Olivier Roy . The Columbia World Dictionary of Islamism . Antoine Sfeir . 26 September 2007 . Columbia University Press . 978-0-231-14640-1.
  8. Book: Yükleyen, Ahmet. 2012. en. Syracuse, New York. 239. Syracuse University Press. Localizing Islam in Europe.
  9. News: 27 May 2004 . Profile: The Caliph of Cologne . news.bbc.co.uk.
  10. News: . 31 October 2009. Germany Bans Islamic Extremist Group - 2001-12-12 . . 7 March 2024.
  11. News: . 27 October 2003 . High Court Upholds Ban on Islamist Group . . 7 March 2024.
  12. Web site: Kalifatstaat v. Germany . . Bicocca Law and Pluralism .
  13. Web site: Three arrests after police action against religious extremist propaganda in Germany . . 29 June 2022 . Europol .
  14. News: Harley . Nicky . 29 June 2022 . Arrests as German police carry out raids on banned Islamic extremist group . . 7 February 2024.