Is the Islamic State planning a cyber-caliphate?
Under pressure on the battlefield, IS has been moving its caliphate to the virtual world and is targeting Turkey in particular.
Judging from the Islamic State's (IS) losses of territory and revenue in Iraq and Syria, IS is coming under more pressure by the day. If the losses continue at this pace, many observers think 2016 could well be the final year of IS in these two countries.
It seems IS decision-makers see this reality and are turning to the fertile recruiting grounds in Turkey, as indicated by the surge in IS output on social media. It is obvious from its propaganda strategy that IS first wants to conquer the cyberworld, and then — with the virtual caliphate — it will set up there and capture hearts and minds in Turkey.
An IS propaganda video professionally produced in Turkish and released in November was viewed more than 100,000 times on social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and others. Quoting extensively from the Quran, it calls on IS sympathizers to migrate with their families to Islamic countries such as Iraq and Syria. But in recent days there has been a significant change in the themes of Turkish-language, pro-IS social media and commentary sites. The Turkish versions now say, “You can serve the Islamic State where you are.”
For example, under Twitter hashtags such as #IslamDevleti and #HilafetTR, IS has been saying that the religion in Turkey today is not the Islam of Mecca. It is instead “a democratic religion bereft of jihad as decided by its parliament and approved by the USA. This religion cannot be called Islam. We reject it.”
