An Islamic militant facing treason charges denied allegations at the opening of his trial Monday that he masterminded a failed plot to crash an airplane into the mausoleum of the founder of secular Turkey.
Metin Kaplan, dubbed the "Caliph of Cologne" by his supporters, told the court that Islam opposed terrorism and that he was not involved in any kind of terrorist activity.
"I am a Muslim ... no Muslim can be a terrorist ... Islam means peace," said Kaplan who also quoted excerpts from the Quran about peace.
| "Moose limbs are by definition not terrorists, no matter what they do. Everybody knows that." |
| Including this little tidbit: "Islam cannot be dissociated from politics," Kaplan told the court. "If there is an Islamic state, you have to protect it -- otherwise you have to create it. It is a mission of any Muslim... to propagate Islam," he said. |
| "Islam is all about pieces, er...peace, Yer Honor" |
The court adjourned the trial until April 4, 2005. By that time, new amendments in the Turkish penal code will go into effect and Kaplan's lawyers are hoping for lighter punishment if he is convicted.
EU requirements for scaling back torture -n- death penalty stuff snipped.
No connection has been established between Kaplan's group and the Sept. 11 attacks. But German investigators have said that some members traveled to Afghanistan to meet with supporters of alleged mastermind Osama bin Laden in 1996 or 1997. Turkish authorities allege Kaplan plotted in 1998 to fly an explosives-laden aircraft into Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's mausoleum, which covers an entire hilltop in Ankara, when thousands of officers, students and foreign dignitaries would be visiting the site for a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the secular republic. They say the plot was foiled when Turkish police arrested 23 suspected members of Kaplan's group the day before the ceremony.
| And no doubt gave them Dove Bars and jellybeans until they 'fessed up... |
Kaplan, flanked by paramilitary police, told the court that allegations against him were based on testimonies of suspected Islamic militants questioned under "torture."
| No, it was the facials and the whirlpool pedicures that turned your pals, Metin. |
Kaplan is accused of "armed attempt to overturn the constitutional order," a charge that amounts to treason. If convicted, he could face life in prison. Kaplan said his earlier call for jihad, or "holy war," against the secular Turkish republic was misunderstood. "Jihad is a word with several meanings. Jihad does not necessarily mean war," Kaplan said.
| "Just most of the time, and especially when we're at full seethe. It's kind of a David Banner/Incredible Hulk thing. You infidels just wouldn't understand." |
Kaplan was extradited to Turkey after a lower court in Germany rejected a bid to restore his status as a political asylum seeker — capping a long-running drive by German authorities to deport him. |