Turkish authorities on Friday arrested a suspected ISIS member who was allegedly planning an attack during the New Year period, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Ibrahim Burtakucin was captured in a joint operation carried out by police and the National Intelligence Agency in the south-eastern city of Malatya.
Authorities seized digital materials and banned ISIS publications in a raid on his home.
Security officials said Mr Burtakucin was in contact with many ISIS sympathisers in Turkey and abroad, and was also looking for an opportunity to join the fighting in conflict zones.
Turkey has stepped up operations to curb extremism and prevent terrorist attacks. On Thursday, police in Istanbul arrested more than 100 suspected ISIS members believed to have been plotting attacks during the Christmas and New Year season.
The Istanbul chief prosecutor's office said police obtained information that members of the terrorist group were planning attacks on non-Muslims in particular, during the Christian celebrations in Turkey.
Police arrested 115 of 137 suspects in a series of raids across Istanbul, and seized pistols and ammunition.
Some of the suspects were already wanted on terrorism charges at national and international levels, prosecutors said.
Those arrests followed a major intelligence-led operation at the Afghanistan–Pakistan border in which Turkish authorities captured a Turkish citizen accused of having a senior position in ISIS.
ISIS has carried out several deadly attacks in Turkey. In January 2024, two gunmen attacked a Catholic church in Istanbul during Sunday Mass, killing one man.
Early on January 1, 2017, an ISIS gunman killed 39 people celebrating the New Year at a nightclub in Istanbul.
In addition, hundreds of people lost their lives in ISIS attacks on Ataturk Airport in Istanbul and in the south-east city of Diyarbakır between 2015 and 2017.
