 in simultaneous raids across eight provinces, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced.){kind=link}
Turkish police have detained 40 suspects with alleged links to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in simultaneous raids across eight provinces, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced.
Yerlikaya announced on X on Sunday that the suspects were detained as part of the “Bozdağan-16” operation.
The minister also provided information on the operations against suspected ISIL members in the country between June 1, 2023 and March 23, saying 2,733 ISIL suspects were detained in 1,316 operations, 692 of whom were arrested, while 529 were released under judicial supervision.
8️⃣ ilde DEAŞ Terör Örgütüne yönelik eş zamanlı olarak gerçekleştirilen “BOZDOĞAN-16” operasyonlarında 4️⃣0️⃣ şüpheli yakalandı❗
⚠️1 Haziran 2023-23 Mart 2024 tarihleri arasında DEAŞ Terör Örgütüne yönelik toplam 1️⃣. 3⃣1⃣6⃣ operasyon düzenlendik.
📌Operasyonlarda 2️⃣ bin 7⃣3⃣3⃣… pic.twitter.com/67HdfF565z— Ali Yerlikaya (@AliYerlikaya) March 24, 2024
Turkey designated ISIL as a terrorist organization in 2013 and has been attacked by the 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.
ISIL militants also attacked a Roman Catholic church in İstanbul in late January.
The attack took place during a service at the church in Sarıyer neighborhood on January 28 and claimed the life of a Turkish citizen who was not a member of the congregation.
In its statement on the day of the attack ISIL said it had been carried out in response to the group leader’s call to kill Jews and Christians everywhere.
Following the incident, 51 ISIL suspects were detained in operations across the country in connection with the attack.
In December of last year Turkish security forces detained 32 suspects over alleged links to the so-called Islamic State jihadists who were planning attacks on churches and synagogues as well as the Iraqi Embassy.
Meanwhile, the latest detentions come in the wake of a deadly attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed 137 people and was claimed by ISIL on the group’s Telegram channel.
Russia detained 11 suspects in connection with the attack, and initial reports indicate that they are Tajik citizens, indicating a possible connection to ISIL’s Afghan branch, the Islamic State–Khorasan Province (ISIS-K).
A person identified as one of the gunmen in the attack on the Moscow concert hall said he traveled to Russia from Turkey on March 4, according to a video of the suspect’s interrogation published by the Russian state-run RT news outlet.
A report by the US Department of State in 2022 showed Turkey is a source and transit country for foreign (terrorist) fighters (FTF) seeking to join ISIL and other terrorist groups fighting in Syria and Iraq, as well as for FTFs who seek to depart Syria and Iraq.