Islamic State calls on its followers to conquer Istanbul

Islamic State (IS) published a video calling Turkish people to rebel and fight against the rule of "infidel and traitor" President Tayyip Erdogan and help conquer Istanbul, Site monitoring service said on 18 August.

Speaking in Turkish, an IS militant accused Erdogan of "selling the country to crusaders and the atheist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)" and has allowed Turkish bases to be used by the "crusaders and the United States just to keep his post". Holding a rifle as he spoke, the fighter issued a warning to the Turkish people.

"Without losing any time you have to rebel against these atheists, crusaders and these infidels who have made you slaves of these crusaders and fight with them," the militant said. "Altogether and under the orders of [Is leader] Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, who comes from the ancestors of our Prophet...let's conquer Istanbul, which traitor Erdogan works day and night to hand over to crusaders."

His call came two months after IS launched a Turkish-language magazine with a front-page story titled The Conquest of Constantinople, calling for a new Islamic takeover of Turkey's biggest city, Istanbul.

Turkey agreed last month to open its strategically important bases to the US-led coalition, a major policy change after years of reluctance to take a frontline role against the Islamist fighters pressing on its borders. It has also launched three air strikes against IS targets in Syria and detained thousands of people in what Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu called "a synchronised effort against terrorism".

IS's strict interpretation of Islam has found thousands of supporters in Turkey and prompted many to join its ranks. Turkey said around 700 Turkish citizens were with the group but Western diplomats say the figure could be 10 times that.