Turkish authorities arrested 14 people and placed nine under judicial control during coordinated operations targeting Daesh across 29 provinces, the Interior Ministry said Saturday, the second day of Eid, the Muslim holiday following the month of Ramadan.
The ministry said the operations, conducted over two weeks, involved the National Intelligence Organization, the General Directorate of Security’s Intelligence Department, Counterterrorism Units, and local public prosecutors. Key cities included Ankara, Istanbul, Konya, Antalya, Kayseri, and Şanlıurfa.
A total of 139 suspects were detained in the raids. Authorities said many of those arrested were already wanted, had provided financial support to Daesh, or previously participated in the group’s activities. Investigations and legal proceedings for the remaining suspects are ongoing.
Türkiye considers the Daesh terrorist group one of the biggest threats to the country’s security and peace and was one of the first countries to declare it a terrorist group in 2013. It has suffered from several Daesh attacks since then, including a suicide bombing in an Ankara train station that killed 100 people in 2015 and a deadly Istanbul nightclub shooting on New Year’s in 2017.
At its peak in 2015, Daesh controlled a swath of territory across Iraq and Syria, half the size of the United Kingdom. It was notorious for its brutality against religious minorities, as well as Muslims who do not follow the terrorists’ ideology.
After years of fighting, the U.S.-led coalition broke the group’s last hold on territory in late 2019, but Daesh cells in multiple countries continue to carry out periodic attacks.
