Turkey said Wednesday it had detained 56 high-priority suspects wanted by 18 countries for crimes ranging from drug dealing and money laundering to murder, counterfeiting and assault, Agence France-Presse reported.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the suspects were listed on INTERPOL’s “red notice” or “diffusion message” systems, which flag suspects sought for arrest and extradition by individual countries.
1⃣1⃣ İlimizde eş zamanlı olarak düzenlenen “KAFES-28” operasyonuyla 1⃣8⃣ ülke tarafından haklarında INTERPOL’ün
🟥 Kırmızı Bülten ve
❌ Difüzyon Mesajı (Acil Yakalama Mesajı) ile arama kaydı bulunan
5️⃣6⃣ şahıs yakalandı.Aziz Milletimizin Bilmesini İsterim ki;
Hangi… pic.twitter.com/jE40hRHgA5— Ali Yerlikaya (@AliYerlikaya) January 3, 2024
The detained people were wanted in the United States, Germany, India, and several former Soviet republics as well as other parts of Asia and the Middle East.
Yerlikaya’s office did not disclose names, noting only that the suspects were rounded up in coordinated security sweeps across 11 provinces, including İstanbul.
The Turkish interior ministry and MIT intelligence service have announced a rapid series of high-profile raids in recent weeks.
They announced the detention of more than 200 people allegedly linked to Islamic State group militants in two separate series of raids ahead of New Year celebrations.
They announced the detention of 34 people accused of spying for Israel on Tuesday.
Yerlikaya is seen as a close and ambitious political ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, announcing major arrests since his appointment last year.
He has ruled himself out of running as mayor of İstanbul in high-stakes elections set for March 31, preferring to keep his post as interior minister.
Erdoğan’s Islamic-rooted party hopes to win back control of Turkey’s three main cities — İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir — from the secular opposition in the March polls.