The process that dragged a family into ISIS: Striking details from the cell in Yalova

Journalist İsmail Saymaz, in his article regarding the 6 ISIS-Khorasan members killed in the clash in Yalova where three police officers were martyred, cited security sources in stating that four of the individuals whose identities were not officially announced were the brothers Musa, Mehmet Cami, and Lütfi Sordabak, along with İbrahim Yaman.

In his article, Saymaz recounted the Sordabak family's migration process to Yalova and the radicalization/division within the family, while also including the account of the father, Maşallah Sordabak. The article also listed information regarding the state's discovery of the cell in 2024, the imposition of travel bans on certain individuals, the indictment process dated February 6, 2025, and details about the trial.

The relevant section of the article is as follows:

"It dragged the family into ISIS

Let us understand how and in what way the Sordabak family, four members of which were killed in the clash, became radicalized.

The family is from Güroymak, Bitlis.

They migrated to Yalova and started working in shipyards and construction sites.

Musa Sordabak was the first person in the family to lean toward Salafism.

Born in 1996.

He was the one who led the Friday prayers and delivered the sermon at the 'Ahlak Sünnet Dergisi' (Morality and Sunnah Magazine) representative office.

When the association was closed, he applied to open a prayer room under the name 'Sünnet-i Yaşam Dergisi' (Sunnah of Life Magazine) but could not obtain the necessary permits.

Later, they established the İstikamet Bookstore.

Musa Sordabak dragged his father Maşallah and his brothers Mehmet Şerif, Mehmet Cami, Lütfi, Haşem, Caner, and Abdulcabbar along with him.

The family divided

His father Maşallah Sordabak recounts:

“I learned that Musa started going to this association after coming to Yalova. One day we went with him, we prayed, we read the Quran. I told Musa what I had observed. I told him that the people there were not reliable, that they were ISIS. He said they had nothing to do with ISIS. I felt that their conversations and thoughts were shifting toward ISIS day by day. In fact, later on, he threatened us by saying, 'Those who are not with ISIS are infidels, it is mandatory for their heads to be cut off.'"

First, his father Maşallah held back.

Then, the brothers Mehmet Şerif, Caner, and Abdulcabbar...

However, Musa, Mehmet Cami, Haşem, and Lütfi did not leave the association; they became even more radicalized.

They also convinced their sisters Nebahat Sordabak and Sebahat Çokişler. Lütfi's wife Nihal and Mehmet Cami's wife Filiz were inside the organization.

They wanted to separate their father from their mother by saying, “You are an infidel, your marriage is void.”

They fired shots at their father and brothers.

They declared their brothers-in-law as infidels (takfir) and separated them from their sisters.

They cut off greetings and conversation.

They stopped greeting each other.

They blocked the path of the migration for jihad

The first discovery of the Yalova cell by the state occurred in 2024.

The Counter-Terrorism Department obtained information on October 1, 2024, that Zafer Umutlu, Lütfi Sordabak, Haşem Sordabak, Mehmet Cami Sordabak, and Bayram Kalkan “might be seeking to go to the Afghanistan/Pakistan conflict zone via legal/illegal means to join the ranks of ISIS's so-called Khorasan Province.” Within this framework, the phones of Lütfi Sordabak, Umutlu, Kalkan, and Görmez were wiretapped.

In addition to Lütfi, Haşem, and Mehmet Cami Sordabak, travel bans were imposed on Görmez, Umutlu, and Kalkan on October 8, 2024.

One day later, on October 9, Mehmet Cami and Haşem Sordabak, who had attacked and fired shots at their father and brothers, were arrested.

An indictment was prepared on February 6, 2025, against 18 defendants, including Musa, Lütfi, Haşem, Mehmet Cami, and Filiz from the Sordabak family, on charges of membership in an illegal organization."

News Source: 12punto