Counterterrorism police on Tuesday rounded up 44 suspects linked to the terrorist group Daesh.
Operations follow an investigation by the Chief Prosecutor’s Office in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa. Along with Şanlıurfa, security forces raided several locations in the central province of Konya. In a separate operation, eight other Daesh suspects were captured by Turkish gendarmerie in Şanlıurfa, Istanbul, Mersin, Konya, Sakarya and Bolu.
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 as a terrorist group in 2013.
Daesh members have not previously targeted places of worship on Turkish soil, but they have carried out a string of attacks, including against a nightclub in Istanbul in 2017 that left 39 people dead and a 2015 bombing attack in Ankara that killed 109.
The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) thwarted the terrorist group’s efforts for recruitment, obtaining funds and logistics support after its latest operation in the aftermath of the church shooting.
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.
Turkish airstrikes also target hideouts of Daesh in northern Iraq and Syria near the Turkish border.
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. In response, Ankara has been conducting pinpoint operations and freezing assets to eliminate the terrorist groups at their roots.
Türkiye deported 9,000 foreign terrorist fighters, mainly from Daesh, from 102 different nationalities, of which 1,168 are from the U.S. or EU member countries, since 2011.
In the past 11 months, Turkish police also arrested more than 650 alleged Daesh terrorists in countrywide operations and prevented at least 19 attack attempts, according to figures from the Interior Ministry.
