Daesh’s structure in Asia

Just as the Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was about to sign an arms deal worth millions of dollars with Russia, the number of terrorist attacks in the country claimed by Daesh occurred more frequently.

The Maute terrorist organization, which is affiliated to Daesh, has been operational in the region for almost a year. The army, acting on the attacks in the city, declared maximum security measures.

Duterte explained that in the past few months he had cousins who joined the terrorist organization Daesh.

"It looks like Daesh is everywhere, and to be honest, I have cousins in the organization. Some of them have joined Daesh."

The President of the Philippines, Duterte, declared martial law in the region for 60 days. In Marawi city, a ban on going out on the streets has been launched.

The Philippine army reported that its targets were the terrorist organization Daesh, and that the operations would not affect the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The intense terrorist activity in the Philippines highlighted the Daesh structure in Asian countries. In addition to the Philippines, countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia also have Daesh affiliates.

In recent years, Daesh has been active in Asia as well as Europe, Syria and Iraq.

In a recent article published in January, the British Times newspaper argued that Daesh’s Asian structure had spread to a very large geographical area and used the following statements:

"Up to now, 2,000 to 4,000 Central Asians are believed to be involved in Daesh, and now it is extremely difficult for terrorists to return to their countries.”

The plans and activities of the terrorist organization Daesh against Turkestan revealed the dimensions of the danger in a published report. It has been revealed that Daesh has tried to attract Turkish Cypriots, Uyghurs, Uzbeks, Kazaks, Kyrgyzs, Azerbaijans, Turkmens and Dagestanians with propaganda.

Daesh uses video as a propaganda tool on the Internet, so-called press statements, and open forums. The terrorist organization promises a 'good life' and 'victory' to those who participate in their politics. The most striking point for Daesh is the supply of drugs to drug-addicted terrorists.

In Indonesia, there are also some actions taken by the terrorist organization Daesh in Southeast Asian countries. Indonesian officials have already announced that about 600 Indonesians have gone to Syria to join Daesh, some have lost their lives in conflict, others have returned to the country.

In a statement from Indonesia that announced the country would fight against Daesh at the end of 2016, officials said "We will work to end the sympathy for Daesh. We want to act jointly with Turkey, Malaysia and Singapore in this framework."

Turkey, with its international connections, compiled a list of 50,000 people with connections to Daesh. Turkey prevented these names from entering Turkey and thereby prevented them from moving to Syria and Iraq.

In addition, approximately 11,000 people with suspected links to Daesh who could have traveled to Iraq and Syria were questioned in airports and bus terminals. Over 2,200 of them were banned.

By the middle of 2016, 3,454 Daesh suspects were detained in Turkey and 341 people, mostly foreigners, were arrested.