Over 150 Daesh suspects have been arrested in counterterrorism operations across 28 provinces in Türkiye, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Friday.
Yerlikaya wrote on social media that the operations were carried out in Adana, Antalya, Aydın, Bursa, Çankırı, Çorum, Eskişehir, Gaziantep, Hatay, İstanbul, Izmir, Kahramanmaraş, Kastamonu, Kırşehir, Kocaeli, Kütahya, Manisa, Mardin, Mersin, Muğla, Nevşehir, Osmaniye, Sakarya, Samsun, Şanlıurfa, Tekirdağ, Yalova and Zonguldak provinces.
“In operations conducted by our gendarmerie against the Daesh terrorist organization in 28 provinces over the past two weeks, 153 suspected terrorists were apprehended. The operations determined that the suspects were terrorist members, had ties to the terrorist organization, financed aid payments and engaged in terrorist propaganda through their social media accounts,” he said.
Yerlikaya pointed out that the fight against terrorism is not limited only to security forces on the ground but is led with a complex structure including security, intelligence, communication and international cooperation.
Daesh remains the second biggest threat of terrorism for Türkiye, which faces security risks from multiple terrorist groups and was one of the first countries to declare it a terrorist group in 2013.
In December last year, Turkish security forces detained 32 suspects over alleged links with Daesh who were planning attacks on churches and synagogues as well as the Iraqi Embassy.
Terrorists from Daesh and other groups, such as the PKK and its Syrian wing, the YPG, rely on a network of members and supporters in Türkiye.
Turkish authorities have ordered the freezing of millions of lira worth of assets since 2013 to crack down on terrorism financiers in line with United Nations sanctions.
