Radical Islamist Hizb ut-Tahrir calls for caliphate in grand meeting in Ankara

ANKARA

Thousands of supporters of the Islamist Hizb ut-Tahrir organization gathered in Ankara to discuss the re-establishment of the caliphate, just three days after holding an international conference in Istanbul to mark the 92nd year of the institution’s abolition, daily Cumhuriyet has reported. 

Around 5,000 supporters of Hizb ut-Tahrir, a transnational Islamist organization, gathered at the Atatürk Sports Hall in Ankara on March 6 for an “International Caliphate Conference” organized by the Köklü Değişim (Radical Change) magazine known as the group’s media organ. 

The opening speech of the conference, which was themed “Caliphate: An Imagination or a Reality that will be Realized Soon,” was delivered by Hizb ut-Tahrir’s Turkey media bureau head Mahmut Kar. In his speech, Kar pledged to re-establish the caliphate, contrary to the expectations of the “infidels.”

“Infidels who were enemies of Islam thought they buried Islam in the depths of history when they abolished the caliphate on March 3, 1924,” Kar said, referring to the abolition of the Ottoman caliphate by the Turkish Republic some 92 years ago. 

“We are hopeful, enthusiastic and happy. Some 92 years after March 3, 1924, when the caliphate was abolished, we are shouting out that we will re-establish the caliphate, here, right next to the parliament,” Kar said. 

The meeting followed another international conference on March 3, this time at a hotel in Istanbul’s Topkapı neighborhood, where the participants reportedly discussed the “type of caliphate” they wish to establish. 

Hizb ut-Tahrir is an Islamist political organization that is recognized as a terrorist group by Russia and Kazakhstan. On its official website called “Hizb ut-Tahrir – Turkey province,” the organization defines itself as a political organization aiming to “lead the ummah” to the re-establish of the caliphate and rule with sharia law.  While the group denounces violence as part of its goal to re-establish the caliphate, many states remain skeptical due to its rhetoric.