In several federal states, investigators have taken action against the banned “Caliphate State” association. The State Criminal Police Office of Rhineland-Palatinate is in charge. Ten suspects come from the Bad Kreuznach area.
According to the investigators, around 50 objects have been searched in six federal states since Tuesday morning. Two suspects aged 49 and 62 were arrested in Bad Kreuznach, a 44-year-old man in North Rhine-Westphalia. A total of 41 suspects are suspected of violating the ban on associations and of having spread propaganda from unconstitutional organizations.
During the searches, the police officers seized firearms, cutting and stabbing weapons such as knives and sabers, as well as numerous data storage devices and hundreds of thousands of euros.
Targeted mosque association in Bad Kreuznach
The focus is on ten suspects from the Bad Kreuznach area. Within a mosque association, they are said to have spread the ideology of the “caliphate state” in sermons and by selling literature.
Sharia instead of democracy and the rule of law
The so-called caliphate state is an Islamist organization led by Istanbul-based Metin Kaplan. According to the investigators, their goal is the establishment of an Islamic state while rejecting democratic and rule-of-law principles on the basis of the Koran as the constitution and Sharia as the only applicable law.
Lewentz: Are vigilant in all areas of political crime
Interior Minister Roger Lewentz (SPD) praised the work of the investigative authorities. According to Lewentz, anyone who wants to keep a banned Islamist group alive in Germany “must be shown clearly which constitution and which law apply here”. He pointed out that in April tips from the Rhineland-Palatinate Office for the Protection of the Constitution led to searches of members of the right-wing extremist chat group United Patriots. This also shows “that we are vigilant and look closely in all areas of politically motivated crime”.
Metin Kaplan’s son suspect
According to the investigators, the accused in Bad Kreuznach are said to have close contact with a person in North Rhine-Westphalia who holds a senior position in the banned association. This suspect appears to be Metin Kaplan’s son. He is said to have passed instructions from Kaplan and accepted donations.
Metin Kaplan, leader of the banned “Caliphate State” association, stands trial in Istanbul in 2004 (archive)
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“Caliph of Cologne” deported from Germany in 2004
Metin Kaplan became known in Germany as the “Caliph of Cologne”. In 2000 he was sentenced to four years in prison for publicly inciting criminals to commit crimes and was deported from Germany to Turkey in 2004. The “Caliphate State” organization was banned by the Federal Ministry of the Interior in 2001. In 2005, a Turkish court sentenced Kaplan to life imprisonment. This was reduced to 17 years and six months in 2010. Kaplan was released early from prison in 2016 because of cancer.
Raids simultaneously in several federal states
The investigations were carried out by the Rhineland-Palatinate State Central Office for Combating Terrorism and Extremism (ZeT) and the Rhineland-Palatinate State Criminal Police Office. The general public prosecutor’s offices in Celle and Munich as well as the public prosecutor’s offices in Cologne, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Karlsruhe were also involved. It was agreed that the raids would be carried out simultaneously in order to smash the structures of the “calf state” and prevent evidence from being lost.