Halis Bayancuk

Halis Bayancuk (born 1984, Diyarbakır, Turkey), also known as Abu Hanzala, is a Turkish imam of Zaza descent who was under custody for alleged connection to ISIS and al-Qaeda. He was released in 2024 due to insufficient evidence.

Biography

Bayancuk was born in Diyarbakir to a Zaza family coming from Bingöl. His father, Haci Bayancuk, also called "Hafiz", was a leader of the political wing of the Kurdish Hezbollah Until 1998, Halis spent his youth in Diyarbakır.

He was arrested for a third time in Van Province on 14 January 2014 and police believed they had enough evidence to convict him, but due to the 2013 corruption scandal in Turkey the police officers and prosecutors working on his case were fired and he was released on 9 November 2014. He and other suspects were released pending trial on 24 March 2016.

On 8 March 2017 he was arrested again and accused of threatening the governor of Ankara. As of November 2017, he is in detention, accused of teaching at a pro-IS madrassa in Ankara. The court in Sakarya sentenced him to 12 years and 6 months imprisonment on 28 June 2018. However, in August 2019, a court in Istanbul reversed the verdict and sent the case back to Sakarya for a retrial. His lawyer defended him, arguing Bayancuk is merely following the political framework given through by the Quran and wouldn't follow ISIS doctrine, when he says that democracy is for infidels and wants the society to be ruled by the principles of the Quran. rejecting any association with ISIS and condemning the terrorist organisations methods.