Turkish authorities have detained 99 suspects linked to the Daesh terrorist group in nationwide raids, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced Friday.
The arrests were made mainly in Ankara and Izmir in the west, as well as in the center, east and south, Yerlikaya posted on X.
"99 suspects have been arrested in the GÜRZ-4 operations over the past three days," Yerlikaya said.
"We will not tolerate any terrorist," he added.
Turkish authorities have made several mass arrests of alleged Daesh members in recent years, most recently a roundup of 147 people announced in March.
After those arrests, Yerlikaya said police had detained a total of 2,919 people suspected of links to the terrorist group.
Two of the assailants who massacred 145 people at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow last March, an attack for which Daesh claimed responsibility, had spent several weeks in Türkiye before heading to Russia, according to local authorities.
Daesh Khorasan Province (Daesh-K), which was behind the Moscow attack, is known to be mostly active in Afghanistan and surrounding regions, but it also operates its network in Türkiye, looking for new "methods" and recruiting more foreign members for its activities after constant counterterrorism operations became a "challenge," security sources say.
Turkish intelligence has previously thwarted the terrorist group's efforts for recruitment, obtaining funds and logistics support after an operation in the aftermath of a church shooting in Istanbul that killed one man during Sunday mass. Daesh remains the second biggest threat of terrorism for Türkiye, which faces security risks from multiple terrorist groups.
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.
