More than 350 suspected ISIS members were arrested in large-scale operations across Turkey on Tuesday, authorities said.
The raids came a day after three police officers and six ISIS militants were killed in a clash in the north-western province of Yalova. Eight other officers and a night guard were wounded when police stormed a house used as a hideout.
“This morning, in 21 provinces, we apprehended 357 suspected ISIS members in simultaneous operations conducted by our police,” Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a statement on X.
The provinces included Istanbul, Ankara and Yalova, he said, without providing further details.
Turkey has launched a series of operations against suspected ISIS cells in the past week, following reports that operatives were planning attacks targeting Christmas and New Year’s celebrations, authorities said.
Earlier, the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office said 110 suspects were detained in raids on 114 addresses.
Some of the suspects were linked to the militants who opened fire against police in Yalova, while others were suspected of planning attacks around New Year’s Day, it said.
Several detainees are suspected of collecting money under the guise of charity and funnelling it to ISIS-linked networks in Syria, according to the prosecutor’s office.
In Ankara, police detained 17 suspects, including 11 foreign nationals, in raids, authorities said. Officers had found digital material linking them to ISIS fighters in conflict zones, they added.
ISIS has carried out a series of deadly attacks in Turkey, most notably a shooting at an Istanbul nightclub during New Year celebrations on January 1, 2017, which killed 39 people.
In January 2024, two gunmen attacked a Catholic church in Istanbul during Sunday mass, killing one man.
Hundreds of people died in ISIS attacks on Ataturk Airport in Istanbul and in the south-eastern city of Diyarbakır between 2015 and 2017.
