The Daesh terrorists that were killed in Ankara in a police operation early Sunday were planning to attack the extraordinary congress of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), where President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was re-elected as AK Party leader, the Ankara governor said Monday.
Speaking in a press conference, Governor Ercan Topaca said that Ankara police immediately took action and carried out the operation after a tip-off came from Istanbul, also in accordance with testimony of Azeri national Ebu Hüseyin Celilov, a Daesh member apprehended in Istanbul previously.
The governor said that some sketches showing the place where the AK Party congress was held were found in the suspect's home during the police raid. "We understood that the terrorists were planning action that likely would prompt chaos in the country. With our timely response, they could not find such opportunity," he said.
Topaca also said that the identification of the slain Daesh members has not yet been made, however, adding that they are most likely foreign nationals. The governor also said that many AK-47, hand grenades, ammunition, digital documents and sketches were also found in the suspects' house during the raid.
Daesh is responsible for a string of attacks in Turkey, ranging from suicide bombings to gun attacks. In January, a lone Daesh gunman stormed a popular nightclub in Istanbul where he killed 39 people during New Year's celebrations.
Turkey is one of the main "enemies" of Daesh, which emerged in Iraq and Syria, Turkey's two neighbors.Turkey is also tackling an influx of foreign fighters looking to sneak into Syria and Iraq, where Daesh controls towns and a large swathe of territories.
Since Daesh's emergence, Turkey has detained over 5,000 Daesh suspects, deported over 3,290 foreign terrorist fighters from 95 countries, and refused entry to more than 38,269 individuals, in counterterror drives.
Turkey also launched Operation Euphrates Shield last year and backed Syrian opposition groups fighting Daesh in Syria. The operation, conducted between August 2016 and April 2017, saw the liberation of the Syrian towns of Jarablus, al-Rai, Dabiq and al-Bab from Daesh control.
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