Ümit Yaşar Toprak (Abu Yousef al-Turki)

Ümit Yaşar Toprak, more commonly known as “Abu Yousef al-Turki,” was an alleged commander for al-Qaeda’s Syrian proxy, Jabhat al-Nusra (the Nusra Front) who trained the group’s fighters.Thomas Joscelyn, “US Airstrikes Target Al Nusra Front, Islamic State in Syria,” The Long War Journal, September 23, 2014, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/09/jihadists_claim_al_n.php.The Turkish publication Today’s Zaman wrote that Toprak was detained in 2004 on suspicion of planning to assassinate then-U.S. President George W. Bush at the NATO summit in Istanbul.“Turkish Jihadist Killed During Anti-ISIL Air Strikes in Syria,” Today’s Zaman, September 24, 2014, http://www.todayszaman.com/latest-news_turkish-jihadist-killed-during-anti-isil-air-strikes-in-syria_359663.html. According to discoveries by Dubai-based reporter Jenan Moussa,Toprak was the leader of “the Wolf Unit of Jabhat al-Nusra,” the group that Moussa believes is the same as the one U.S. officials refer to as Khorasan.Jenan Moussa, “Exclusive: Documents Show that the Khorasan Group Is the Same Group as Wolf’s Nusra,” Al Aan TV, October 1, 2014, http://www.alaan.tv/news/world-news/114998/khorassan-group-is-in-fact-the-wolf-unit-of-nusra-front-documents-show.

Toprak was reportedly killed in the U.S. airstrikes conducted on September 22, 2014.Zoe Mintz, “Al-Nusra Front Leader, Abu Yousef al-Turki, Killed in Syria Airstrikes: Group Says,” International Business Times, September 23, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.com/al-nusra-front-leader-abu-yousef-al-turki-killed-syria-airstrikes-group-says-1693907.

Also Known As

  • Abu Yousef al-Turki
  • Abu Yusuf al-Turki

Extremist entity
Khorasan
Type(s) of Organization:
Non-state actor, terrorist, transnational, violent
Ideologies and Affiliations:
Islamist, Salafist, jihadist, Sunni
Position(s):
Member

Extremist entity
Jabhat al-Nusra (the al-Nusra Front)
Read Threat Report
Type(s) of Organization:
Insurgent, non-state actor, terrorist, transnational, violent
Ideologies and Affiliations:
Al-Qaeda and affiliated groups, Islamist, jihadist, Qutbist, Salafist, Sunni
Position(s):
Sniper; Purported leader of “the Wolf Unit of Jabhat al-Nusra”

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Fact:

On October 7, 2023, Hamas invaded southern Israel where, in the space of eight hours, hundreds of armed terrorists perpetrated mass crimes of brutality, rape, and torture against men, women and children. In the biggest attack on Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust, 1,200 were killed, and 251 were taken hostage into Gaza—where 101 remain. One year on, antisemitic incidents have increased by record numbers. 

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