Turkish security forces have detained at least 34 Daesh terrorist suspects in Istanbul-based counterterrorism operations across Turkey, sources said early Wednesday.
Simultaneous operations were carried out by teams of the Istanbul Police Department Counterterrorism Branch at 39 addresses in Aydın and Sivas provinces.
Special operations police also took part, according to sources, who did not want to be named due to media restrictions.
Some of the suspects are foreign nationals, but their identities have not been released, Ihlas News Agency (IHA) reported.
The suspects had been planning to bring spouses and relatives of Daesh terrorists held in refugee camps by the YPG terrorists in Syria to Turkey and they had also been providing necessities for those already brought to the country. Some of the suspects have also been providing financial assistance to imprisoned Daesh terrorists and their families.
In 2013, Turkey became one of the first countries to declare Daesh a terrorist group.
The country has since been attacked by the terrorist group multiple times, with over 300 people killed and hundreds more injured in at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks and four armed assaults.
In response, Turkey launched anti-terrorist operations at home and abroad to prevent further attacks.
Turkey detained Daesh's so-called “Turkish emir,” Mahmut Özden, in August. He was planning to carry out an attack on the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque and target politicians, nongovernmental organization (NGO) heads and other prominent figures in Turkey, according to the official investigation.
