Metin Kaplan (born 14 November 1952) is the leader of the Islamic extremist movement ''Kalifatsstaat'' (" Caliphate State") which is based in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, Germany.

Kalifatsstaat

Kaplan was born in the Turkish province of

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...

. Kaplan, who was prosecuted as an enemy of the state in Turkey and faced the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

, sought

political asylum The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereignty, sovereign authority, such as a second country or ...

in Germany and traveled there in 1983 as a

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

, together with his father, Cemaleddin Kaplan (also known as Cemaleddin Hocaoğlu), who was a leading figure in Islamist circles among Turkish diaspora in Germany. His father ran two publications: "Tebliğ" and "Ümmet". After his father's death in 1995, Metin Kaplan became leader of the Caliphate State. The movement's stated goal is to overthrow the government of Turkey and establish an Islamist state in the country. The movement was previously known as the "Union of Islamic Associations and Communities" and is on Turkey's official list of terrorist organizations as "Hilafet Devleti" (literally: "Caliphate State"). The self-styled "Caliph of Cologne" chose the city of

as his residence. After being closely watched by the German Verfassungsschutz for several years, the movement was outlawed in 2001. The movement has published a text called "The New World Order" which contains:

Arrest

His rival İbrahim Sofu was murdered in 1997. Kaplan was convicted by a German court of

solicitation Solicitation is the act of offering, or attempting to purchase, goods and/or services. Legal status may be specific to the time or place where it occurs. The crime of "solicitation to commit a crime" occurs when a person encourages, "solicits, r ...

of murder and spent four years in jail. In May 2004, after reassurances that he would not be tortured if he was extradited to Turkey, a German court rescinded his refugee status and authorised his

extradition In an extradition, one Jurisdiction (area), jurisdiction delivers a person Suspect, accused or Conviction, convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforc ...

to Turkey. Shortly after the court's decision, before German police could arrest him, Kaplan disappeared from Cologne. After the court decision was temporarily suspended, Kaplan reappeared on 31 May, claiming to have been sick during his disappearance. On 12 October, the Verwaltungsgericht of

decided that Kaplan could be extradited despite a pending appeal to the Bundesverwaltungsgericht in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. He was arrested in an

internet cafe The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

in Cologne and brought to the

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

airport, where a chartered Lear Jet took him to

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. On arrival he was immediately arrested by Turkish police and taken to prison. This

case is unusual because governments usually refuse to extradite people to face trial for

political crime In criminology, a political crime or political offence is an offence that prejudices the interests of the state or its government. States may criminalise any behaviour perceived as a threat, real or imagined, to the state's survival, including ...

s such as

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

and

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

. Kaplan's trial started on 20 December 2004. In 2005, Kaplan was convicted of attempting to overthrow the constitution and treason. He was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment. During the trial, Kaplan was confined to the high security prison of

Tekirdağ Tekirdağ () is a city in northwestern Turkey. It is located on the north coast of the Sea of Marmara, in the region of East Thrace. The city forms the urban part of the Süleymanpaşa district, with a population of 186,421 in 2022. Tekirdağ ...

. Turkish authorities have accused him of plotting a terrorist attack against the Turkish government in 1998 and a plot to attack the Anıtkabir by flying a

Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufactu ...

laden with explosives into it. Kaplan conceded that he believes the state of Turkey should be replaced with an Islamist state, but denies ever having planned to resort to violent means.

Release from prison and acquittal after retrial

Kaplan's sentence was reduced to 17.5 years in prison in 2010, and he was released from prison in November 2016. He was ultimately acquitted after a retrial on 16 February 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Metin Islamist groups 1952 births Living people German Islamists Turkish criminals People convicted of treason against Turkey Turkish Islamists Turkish prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Turkey People extradited from Germany People extradited to Turkey