Hamas Armed-Wing Video Reported at Major Turkish Religious-School Congress

Footage from a major Turkish religious-school congress appears to show a video featuring the spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing shortly before the son of former Hamas leader Ismail Haniye addressed the gathering, according to a new investigation.

Nordic Monitor reports that footage from the 23rd İmam Hatipliler Congress shows Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, appearing on screen with subtitles containing an explicit military threat.

It also reports that pro-Hamas chants were used at the event.

Those claims currently rely on Nordic Monitor’s analysis of the footage and have not been independently corroborated.

The congress itself and the participation of senior Turkish officials are independently confirmed.

Turkey’s Ministry of National Education says Education Minister Yusuf Tekin attended the September 5 gathering at the public Karadeniz Technical University.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent a video message to the congress, while the head of Turkey’s state religious authority, Diyanet, was also present.

Turkish reporting separately confirms that Abdusselam Haniye, son of former Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniye, addressed the event.

Haniye compared Turkey’s imam-hatip schools with mosques and religious institutions in Gaza and described such institutions as producing political leaders, scholars and “mujahids”.

He also urged imam-hatip students to carry the concerns of the wider ummah.

The network involved is substantial.

Turkey’s Education Ministry said in May that approximately 1.1 million pupils attend imam-hatip schools.

ÖNDER, which organised the congress, says its network includes 680 imam-hatip associations across all 81 Turkish provinces.

The newly reported footage adds a separate element to an event whose political and religious character is already well documented.

The presence of government officials, Haniye’s speech and the scale of the imam-hatip network are independently established.

The claim that Hamas armed-wing material was shown immediately before his appearance remains attributed to Nordic Monitor.

Sources

• Nordic Monitor – Footage investigation into Hamas material at imam-hatip congress
• Turkish Ministry of National Education – Yusuf Tekin attends 23rd İmam Hatipliler Congress
• Haber Trabzon – Abdusselam Haniye addresses congress
• Yeni Şafak – Haniye discusses imam-hatip youth and Gaza religious institutions
• Turkish Ministry of National Education – Approximately 1.1 million imam-hatip pupils