 militant group in operations conducted across 32 of the country’s provinces, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on Friday.){kind=link}
Turkish authorities have detained 304 people over alleged ties to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militant group in operations conducted across 32 of the country’s provinces, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on Friday.
The majority of suspects were apprehended in Ankara, İstanbul and İzmir, Turkey’s three largest cities.
32 İlde DEAŞ Terör Örgütüne yönelik eş zamanlı olarak düzenlenen “KAHRAMANLAR-34” Operasyonlarında 3⃣0⃣4⃣ şahıs yakalandı❗
Aziz Milletimizin huzuru, birlik ve beraberliği için teröristlerin hiçbirine göz açtırmayacağız. Güvenlik güçlerimizin üstün gayretleriyle mücadelemize… pic.twitter.com/WKlpZVGMeN
— Ali Yerlikaya (@AliYerlikaya) December 22, 2023
The operation was carried out simultaneously in provinces across the country, Yerlikaya said. Security forces were seen entering buildings and apprehending suspects, in video footage shared by Yerlikaya.
ISIL, which once controlled a significant portion of Iraq and Syria at its peak in 2014, has continued to carry out insurgent attacks despite losing territory.
Turkey declared ISIL a terrorist organization in 2013 and has been attacked by the jihadist group multiple times since then. A total of 315 people were killed and hundreds more were injured in at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb blasts and four armed attacks carried out by ISIL in the country.
Turkish authorities have recently intensified operations against both ISIL and Kurdish militants following a bomb explosion near government buildings in Ankara on October 1, for which the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) claimed responsibility.