Joint operations by Istanbul police counterterrorism and intelligence departments led to the arrest of 14 suspects linked to the terrorist groups Daesh and al-Qaida, authorities announced Tuesday.
According to an official statement, police launched an investigation into several suspects on charges of financing terrorism. The suspects apprehended in operations across Istanbul are accused of having links to Daesh and al-Qaida members in “conflict zones,” referring to Syria, where remnants of the groups remain. Authorities said the suspects also praised the terrorist groups on social media and were planning attacks targeting Türkiye.
Türkiye has conducted sustained counterterrorism operations against Daesh for years, targeting the group’s members, facilitators and financial networks both domestically and across its borders. Turkish security forces regularly carry out nationwide raids to prevent attacks and dismantle the organization’s presence in the country.
After a meteoric rise in 2014 in Iraq and Syria that saw it capture vast swaths of territory, Daesh saw its self-proclaimed “caliphate” collapse under a wave of offensives. It was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria two years later, but sleeper cells of the group remained active.
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 more than 300 people killed and hundreds more injured in at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks and four armed assaults.
