Turkish authorities captured 36 suspected Daesh terrorists in a new round of operations across the country, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced Thursday.
Police raided safe houses in 11 provinces in the three-day Operation Heroes-45, the latest in a string of crackdowns targeting terrorist groups in Türkiye, Yerlikaya said on social media platform X.
Authorities seized $39,000, 11,000 euros ($11,987) and TL 200,000 ($6,635) in cash, as well as a large amount of other foreign currencies, digital materials and documents during the raids spanning from Istanbul to Antalya, Sakarya to Trabzon.
"We will not allow any terrorist to breathe for the peace and unity of our people. We will continue our battle with the intense efforts of our security forces," Yerlikaya said, sharing footage of the operations that showed police entering apartments and buildings and dragging suspects into vehicles.
Daesh controlled one-third of Iraq and Syria at its 2014 peak. Though beaten back, it continues to wage attacks. It has conducted numerous attacks across Türkiye, including on a nightclub in Istanbul on Jan. 1, 2017, in which 39 people were killed.
Authorities have ramped up operations against Daesh and the PKK in recent weeks after PKK terrorists killed 21 Turkish soldiers in two separate attacks on Türkiye's military posts in northern Iraq.
In December, Turkish intelligence and security forces captured a top Daesh terrorist in charge of the terrorist group's finances in the Damascus region in an operation in Türkiye's southeastern Mersin province.
Terrorist Hudhaifa al-Mouri, code-named "Ayyoub," who was responsible for coordinating funds sent to Daesh terrorist members, was nabbed in a joint operation coordinated by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and the police. Over $28,000, 14,950 euros, TL 31,800 and digital materials were confiscated in the operation. Security forces also discovered the mobile apps used by Daesh terrorists to transfer funds. In his testimony, al-Mouri mentioned how he joined the terrorist group, their activities in Türkiye and Syria, the terrorists he has been in contact with, as well as money transfers.
In late December, Turkish security forces detained 32 suspected Daesh militants that Anadolu Agency (AA) reported were allegedly planning attacks on synagogues, churches and the Iraqi Embassy. A week earlier, police rounded up 304 suspected Daesh terrorists in simultaneous raids across Türkiye in what appeared to be a security sweep leading up to the New Year's festivities.
Daesh remains the second biggest threat of terrorism for Türkiye, which faces security risks from multiple terrorist groups. In 2013, Türkiye 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 attacks.
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 intensifying its crackdown on the terrorists and their links at home, conducting pinpoint operations and freezing assets to eliminate the terrorist groups from 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 the European Union member countries, since 2011.
France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Romania, Sweden and Austria were the leading EU countries in terms of deported foreign terrorists.
