Yılmaz Bilgen, a reporter for the Yeni Şafak daily and TV Net, staunch supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, expressed support for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in an article posted on the Islahhaber news website.
Talking about his experiences in Syria, including in ISIL-controlled areas, Bilgen said:
“For myself, I will continue to see as equals my brothers who fight in the line of ISIL against the cruel Assad regime and other ‘People of Jihad.’ Knowing that there is no defeat for those who believe in Allah and his Prophet, I will continue to pray for their victory and to support them… Despite everything, I have a strong belief that the rising of the sun of freedom in Syria is imminent.”
In his article Bilge wrote how he was detained by ISIL militants in Dar uz Zor and about his conversation with a qadi (judge) of Libyan origin in an ISIL court last year. “Before leaving, we warmly shook hands with the commander and qadi brothers who accompanied us while passing through the difficult battle zone.”
Bilgen had called journalist İsmail Saymaz a “Gülen movement supporter” after Saymaz criticized his support for ISIL, in a message posted in Twitter on Wednesday.