Terror Group Numbers in Germany “Speculative”

Despite reports in the German media that the Turkish Islamist group the Front of Islamic Fighters of Great East (IBDA-C), the organization which claimed responsibility for the recent terrorist attacks in Istanbul, is also active in Germany, the Federal Criminal Investigation Department (BKA) has dismissed the reported number of followers as “speculative.” Reports in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper and several TV channels claimed that IBDA-C has recruited 500 members in Germany, citing an internal BKA document as the source. While the alleged BKA report states that IBDA-C has been "represented in West Europe" since 1995 and is "extremely ready for violence," a spokesperson for the BKA, who not comment on the reported internal document, said that the group’s presence in Germany was “not an immediate threat.”