Yucelen: We Know That 14 Turks Joined Training Camps In Afghanistan

NEW YORK/ANKARA, Feb 5 (A.A) - Interior Minister Rustu Kazim Yucelen said on Tuesday that they knew that 14 Turks joined the training camps in Afghanistan.
Yucelen received New York Times newspaper's Istanbul Office Chief Douglas Frantz and responded his questions.
Interior Minister Yucelen said, ''these Turks who went for training are people who are living in Germany and whom we consider as terrorists.''
When Frantz said that the supporters of Metin Kaplan, the head of the Union of the Islamic Communities and Societies, were known as a threat for Turkey but the German officials took them seriously after the September 11th terrorist attacks and asked how Yucelen evaluated this issue, Yucelen said that the supporters of Kaplan set up that union.
Yucelen noted that that union was later named ''Anatolia Federal Islamic State'' and called ''Caliphate State'' in 1994.
The supporters of Kaplan had expressed their political views in Barbaros Mosque in Germany for the first time, Yucelen stated.
Yucelen said that Metin Kaplan was chosen as the so-called caliphate after Cemalettin Kaplan died in 1995.
Giving information about the divisions in the organization, Yucelen said that the group bound to Metin Kaplan were activists and were publishing a magazine named ''Ummet-i Muhammed.''
Yucelen noted that it was understand through this magazine that there was a link between Osama bin Laden and the supporters of Kaplan.
An article named Afghanistan file was published in that magazine dated February 13, 1997, Yucelen stated.
Yucelen said, ''in this article, it was said that Afghanistan, Taliban and Osama bin Laden were visited at the beginning of 1997, Kaplan's books and letters were given under the decisions of the group and that they were affected by Laden's life. It was also said in this article that Laden noted that he was upset that there were so few fighters for Islam in Turkey although there were many in the world.''
''In the light of this information, it is said that Kaplan sent his supporters to the camps of Laden. In the following issues of the magazine, it was noted that as supporters of Kaplan joined the camps in Afghanistan, Laden's remindings were met. Those who joined those trainings were also determined. These are intelligence information,'' Yucelen stated.
Yucelen pointed out that this information would be illuminated by the extradition of Metin Kaplan and went on saying, ''but, Germany does not want to extradite Kaplan by thinking that there is capital punishment in Turkey. Kaplan will be out of prison 11 months later. After he is released, the first place it will harm is not Turkey, it is Germany. His group is a terrorist organization. It is a possibility for fundamentalist organizations to unite and cooperate. We guess that they can contact Hezbollah. We are fighting against this terrorist organization successfully in our country. In the end of this fight, we think that Hezbollah will open abroad. Since Turkey is experienced in fight against terrorism, Hezbollah will start terrorist attacks in foreign countries. To this end, Metin Kaplan will be the first person this terrorist organization will contact abroad.''
Asked if he knew how many Turks there were in training camps in Afghanistan, Yucelen said, ''we know that 14 Turks joined those camps. This is intelligence. But, it can be leaked out to press sometimes. I would like to underline something. The Turks who go to training camps are people living in Germany and whom we consider as terrorist. They are not people settled in Turkey or entering or exiting from Turkey. If they enter in Turkey, they will be captured.''
Yucelen noted that the attacks which were planned to be staged on October 29, 1998 and November 10, 1998 were prevented successfully.
Asked if Laden was inspired by Cemalettin Kaplan regarding the attacks on Pentagon and New York, Yucelen said, ''I cannot know it. But, I know about the Laden-Kaplan connection through intelligence. I think that there can be a meeting among Laden, Kaplan and Hezbollah in the future. But, I cannot prove it. This issue was also mentioned in the magazine of supporters of Kaplan in 1997.''
When asked how much support the supporters of Kaplan had in Turkey and Germany, Yucelen said, ''according to me, they do not have so much support. But, there are people who support them in regard of thought. There is a mass around 1,500 people who activate in Germany. It is thought that there are around 50 organizators in that mass. But, these figures are not official. Fundamentalist and leftist groups in Turkey staged a protest against U.S. operation on Afghanistan on a Friday. There were the supporters of terrorist organization PKK, illegal leftist DHKP-C organization, fundamentalist Hezbollah organization and Kaplan.''
Responding to a question if Metin Kaplan had a good life before he was imprisoned, Yucelen said, ''of course, the German authorities know this better. However, it is definite that Kaplan did not live a miserable life.''
Asked if Turkey could assure Germany that Kaplan would not be executed, Yucelen said that the parliament was authorized about this issue and that Turkey had not executed any capital punishment since 1984.
Yucelen said, ''an example of this is Abdullah Ocalan, the head of the terrorist organization. I want to answer this question with another question. Can Germany guarantee that Laden will not be executed if it captures him? Can the United States give the same guarantee if it faces such a situation? Write this in your newspaper. Write it.''