Security sources said on Wednesday that the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) captured Daesh operative Ahmet Kazancı “in the border area.”
Kazancı was part of the Daesh affiliate ISKP, or Islamic State-Khorasan Province, whose activities concentrate on South and Central Asia. He is also known under the aliases “Abu Ubeyde” and “Abu Ibrahim.” Sources said he succeeded Özgür Altun, another Turkish national also known as Abu Yasir Al Turki, who was in charge of Daesh’s “media wing” for Türkiye, a propaganda branch for the terrorist group. He was working under Altun and replaced him when Altun was captured.
MIT has cooperated with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to capture Altun, one of the most wanted terrorists within an international network of Daesh. Altun, who was nabbed in June 2025 on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, was once promoted in Daesh-linked publications as the group’s “media spokesperson.”
Sources stated that Kazancı traveled from Türkiye to Afghanistan and Pakistan and stayed in Daesh camps there. He was active in arranging the transportation of Daesh members from Türkiye to the region, assisting Altun. He survived air strikes in Pakistan against Daesh. Sources said he was planning to infiltrate into Türkiye, before the Turkish intelligence discovered his plan and captured him in an unspecified border area. During questioning, Kazancı admitted his association with Altun, described the military and ideological training he received within the group and acknowledged carrying out media and propaganda activities for the group, according to the sources. Security sources said the operation disrupted Daesh plans targeting Türkiye and exposed networks used to transfer recruits to the terrorist group.
Daesh remains a threat to Türkiye, which lost dozens of citizens in attacks by the group that thrived in its southern neighbors, Iraq and Syria.
Since the 2019 collapse of the self-proclaimed “caliphate,” some suspected Daesh members have settled in Türkiye, operating the so-called Khorasan Province (Daesh-K) network, which looks for “new methods” and recruits more foreign nationals for its activities after constant counterterrorism operations became a “challenge,” according to Turkish security sources.
MIT thwarted the terrorist group's efforts for recruitment, obtaining funds and logistics support after its latest operation in the aftermath of a church shooting in Istanbul in January 2024.
Türkiye was one of the first countries to declare Daesh a terrorist group in 2013 and carried out a steady stream of operations to thwart the group, rounding up hundreds of suspects over the past few years. Operations prevented plots by Daesh to attack places of worship in Türkiye. Terrorists from Daesh and other groups, such as the PKK and its Syrian wing, the YPG, rely on a network of members and supporters in Türkiye. Turkish authorities have ordered the freezing of millions of lira worth of assets since 2013 to crack down on terrorism financiers in line with United Nations sanctions.
