Turkey Acquits ISIS Member Who Recruited Fighters in Syria, Iraq
June 20, 2019, 2:27 pm

Turkey Acquits ISIS Member Who Recruited Fighters in Syria, Iraq

Turkish court decided to acquit a Turkish citizen who had been arrested on charges of joining ISIS.

Turkish authorities have accused "Kushkon Demir," 27 years old, who lives in "Erzurum” in eastern Turkey, of joining ISIS and charged him of publishing ISIS propaganda.

Demir was acquitted by the Turkish courts under the term "freedom of expression" but he is still in detention by the court until a final decision is issued towards him. According to the Nordic Monitor Centre for monitoring extremism and terrorism, Demir, nicknamed "Abu Hanzalah", was part of a radical terroristic faction and helped many Turkish citizens to join ISIS and other extremist armed groups in Iraq and Syria.

The centre confirmed that, during interrogation, it was found that he was involved in contact with several terrorists in Turkey, including a person who is considered by the Turkish government as the mastermind of many attacks that happened in Turkey by ISIS.

The Turkish authorities arrested Demir in November 2017. But later he was released waiting for the trial. In May 2018 he was arrested again for different charges, and another list of accusations have been filed against him on the 13th of June 2018, Demir defended himself claiming that he was working to overthrow the secular regime in Turkey. More than 188 Turkish childs are suspected to be members of ISIS according to Ankara.

Acquitting Demir comes under the term of freedom of expression, while the Turkish authorities are imprisoning dozens of journalists and human rights activists without any trial.

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BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
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Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
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For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”