Turkish authorities have arrested 357 IS suspects in 21 different provinces, including Istanbul and Ankara. Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote this on Tuesday on X: “Just as we have not yet given a chance to those who want to bring this country to its knees with terror, we will never do so in the future!”
Last Monday, officers wanted to make arrests in a house in the northwestern province of Yalova, where suspected IS members were said to be hiding. Three police officers and six suspects were subsequently killed in an eight-hour gun battle. Eight other police officers and a village guard were injured, wrote the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet. Ultimately, five suspects were arrested.
Turkey also arrested 115 people last Thursday, who are also alleged to be members of the terrorist group. They planned to commit attacks during Christmas and New Year’s Day, mainly targeting non-Muslims, the Turkish Public Prosecution Service claims.
In the recent past, Islamic State shocked Turkey with attacks. A well-known example is the attack claimed by the terrorist group in the Reina discotheque in 2017 on New Year’s Eve, in which 39 people were killed. Approximately 700 guests were present in the entertainment venue, where according to IS “Christians celebrated their pagan festival”.
Recently, IS seems to have become somewhat more active again worldwide. But the terror group is not nearly as strong as it was in 2014, when it declared a caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq. According to Reuters news agency, Turkey was used as a major transit point for foreign IS members fighting in Syria. An international coalition led by the US overthrew the self-proclaimed caliphate in 2019, together with the Kurds. Since then, several thousand remaining IS members have been in remote areas in eastern Syria.
Also read
Islamic State is a shadow of the organization that proclaimed the caliphate, but is becoming more active again
The journalistic principles of NRC