The hacking collective Anonymous is taking credit for an attack that disabled 40,000 Turkish websites, saying in a video posted to YouTube that it was retaliation for the country’s purported support of the Islamic State.
“As many of you have heard, Turkey is supporting Daesh by buying oil from them, and hospitalizing their fighters,” a representative of the group states in the video. “Daesh” is a pejorative Arabic term used to refer to the Islamic State.
“We won’t accept that, Erdogan,” the individual adds, referencing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “The leader of Turkey will [not] help ISIS any longer. The news media has already stated that Turkey’s Internet has been the victim of … attacks. This led Turkey to shut down its Internet borders and deny anyone outside the country to access Turkish websites.
“Dear government of Turkey, if you do not stop supporting ISIS, we will continue attacking your Internet, your root [domain name system], your banks, and take your government sites down,” the individual states. Root servers are responsible for facilitating a country’s access to the Internet.
“After your root DNS, we will start to hit your airports, military assets, and private state connections. We will destroy your critical banking infrastructure. Stop this insanity now, Turkey. Your fate is in your own hands,” the video concludes.
Turkey is an ally of the United States in the war against the Islamic State, and has been actively engaged in operations against the terrorist organization since July. However, the Islamic State has allegedly been smuggling crude oil into the country and selling it on the black market. Russia has asserted the operation comprises major pipelines and thousands of trucks, and that Turkish authorities are profiting from the arrangement.
The Obama administration has stood by Erdogan, who rejects the claim.
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“We reject outright the premise that the Turkish government is in league with ISIL to smuggle oil across its borders,” State Department spokesman Mike Toner told reporters in a Dec. 2 briefing. “We frankly see no evidence, none, to support such an accusation.”
