Turkey has designated Boko Haram sect as a terrorist organization, according to a report in the ANKARA-based KUNA news group in that country.
Saharareporters also reports that the development is the latest twist of a continued international focus on the search for the missing over 200 missing Chibok girls kidnapped by the Boko Haram in April. Turkey, a key member of NATO, has not announced what role they might play in the search, or what military assistance they may issue, in Nigeria’s fight against the Islamist group.
The Turkish government’s decision was widely reported by the Turkish Resmi Gazete (The Official Gazette) on June 10th.
The move by the NATO country includes a freeze on all the assets of the Nigerian group, and its members in Turkey, if found, according to the Gazette.
In New York, the UN Security Council had included Boko Haram into the list of terrorist organizations back on May 22nd at the request from the Nigerian authorities.
The Nigerian appeal to the UN came after the abduction of over 270 schoolgirls by the militants of Boko Haram. This kidnapping in Chibok, in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno, occurred in mid-April, triggering a wide international response.
Nigerian government officials, the international and local media say, the Boko Haram group is responsible for most of the terrorist attacks regularly occurring in different parts of Nigeria. In recent weeks since the April kidnapping attacks across Nigeria by Boko Haram have stepped up
Turkey had also listed the Jabhat al-Nusra (Al-Nusra Front) as a terrorist organization. Jabhat al-Nusra is operating in Syria.
