Questions about Pledge of Allegiance to the New ISIS Leader

Libyan forces attack ISIS sites during the “Al-Bonyan Al-Marsous” operation in Sirte 2016. (Getty Images)
Libyan forces attack ISIS sites during the “Al-Bonyan Al-Marsous” operation in Sirte 2016. (Getty Images)
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Questions about Pledge of Allegiance to the New ISIS Leader

Libyan forces attack ISIS sites during the “Al-Bonyan Al-Marsous” operation in Sirte 2016. (Getty Images)
Libyan forces attack ISIS sites during the “Al-Bonyan Al-Marsous” operation in Sirte 2016. (Getty Images)

Days after ISIS announced the appointment of “Abul-Hussein Al-Husseini Al-Qurashi” to lead the organization, succeeding “Abul-Hassan Al-Hashemi Al-Qurashi”, and the organization’s call to pledge allegiance to the “new leader,” experts in the affairs of international terrorism said the development raised ambiguities.

A Syrian security source had confirmed the death of “Abul-Hassan al-Qurashi” in a military operation by the Syrian army, a month and a half ago in the south of the country, according to the official news agency (SANA).

On Wednesday, ISIS announced the killing of Abul-Hassan in battles, without disclosing a specific date or location. But Washington said that he had been killed in mid-October in southern Syria.

Mounir Adeeb, an Egyptian researcher in extremist movements and international terrorism, told Asharq Al-Awsat that ISIS was withholding information and maintaining secrecy.

“It is difficult to determine the identity of “Abul-Hussein Al-Husseini” because the organization has used a nickname, not his real name…” he remarked.

The leaders of ISIS are usually known by more than one nickname. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was killed by a US strike in Idlib, northwestern Syria, in October 2019, held other names including, Ibrahim Awad al-Badri and Abu Duaa al-Samarrai.

Similarly, “Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi,” who was killed in a US strike in northern Idlib, western Syria, on Feb. 3, was also called Haji Abdullah Qaradish and Abu Omar Qaradish. Some indicated that “Abul-Hassan Al-Hashemi Al-Qurashi” was also named Zaid Al-Iraqi and Jumaa Awad Al-Badri.

A well-informed source stated that the organization’s reticence in announcing the real identity of its new leader might raise ambiguity over the validity of the pledge of allegiance.

The appointment of “Abul-Hussein” could be a form of cover-up, to hide the reality of the ongoing dispute within the organization, the source told Asharq Al-Awsat.



Jailed PKK Leader Ocalan Says Armed Struggle with Türkiye Over

FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a poster of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan during a spring festival of Newroz celebration in Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a poster of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan during a spring festival of Newroz celebration in Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar/File Photo
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Jailed PKK Leader Ocalan Says Armed Struggle with Türkiye Over

FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a poster of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan during a spring festival of Newroz celebration in Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a poster of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan during a spring festival of Newroz celebration in Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar/File Photo

Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), appeared in a rare online video on Wednesday to declare the group's armed struggle against Türkiye over and called for a full transition to democratic politics.

In the recording, dated June and released by Firat News Agency, which is close to the PKK, Ocalan urged Türkiye's parliament to set up a commission to oversee disarmament and manage a broader peace process.

"The phase of armed struggle has ended. This is not a loss, but a historic gain," he said. "The armed struggle stage must now be voluntarily replaced by a phase of democratic politics and law."

The PKK, which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state for four decades and is designated a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union, decided in May to disband after an initial written appeal from Ocalan in February.

Since the PKK launched its insurgency in 1984 – originally with the aim of creating an independent Kurdish state – the conflict has killed more than 40,000 people, imposed a heavy economic burden and fueled deep social and political divisions.

The video marks a rare and potentially pivotal moment in the long-running conflict, offering what could be President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most significant opportunity yet to seal a political settlement to the Kurdish issue, should his government choose to respond, Reuters reported.

It also comes before PKK militants begin handing over their weapons in groups in northern Iraq's Sulaymaniyah on Friday, in a major step in the process.

Seated in a beige polo shirt with a glass of water on the table in front of him, Ocalan appeared to read from a transcript in the seven-minute video – the first public footage or audio of him since his arrest in 1999. Six other jailed PKK members sat beside him, all looking directly at the camera.

He said the PKK, which has been based in northern Iraq's mountainous regions in recent years, had ended its separatist agenda.

"The main objective has been achieved – existence has been acknowledged. What remains would be excessive repetition and a dead end," he said.

Ocalan added that Türkiye's pro-Kurdish DEM Party, the third largest in parliament and which played a key role facilitating the PKK's disarmament decision, should work alongside other political parties to advance the peace process.

The PKK and DEM expect Ankara to address Kurdish political demands, potentially before weapons in Türkiye are handed over.

Ocalan's message came a day after Ibrahim Kalin, head of Türkiye's MIT intelligence agency, visited Baghdad for high-level meetings with Iraqi officials, the agency said. Kalin had earlier visited Erbil in northern Iraq as well.

Talks focused on strengthening border security and steps toward a "terror-free Türkiye," with the Iraqi government voicing full support for joint efforts to eliminate armed groups from the region.