 group could carry out attacks in Ankara and İstanbul ahead of New Year's celebrations, according to an internal notice sent to security units this month, the Cumhuriyet daily reported.){kind=link}
Turkey’s gendarmerie has warned that the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group could carry out attacks in Ankara and İstanbul ahead of New Year’s celebrations, according to an internal notice sent to security units this month, the Cumhuriyet daily reported.
In a memo dated December 19, the Ankara Provincial Gendarmerie Command alerted its personnel and relevant units to intelligence suggesting possible coordinated attacks in crowded public areas in the coming days.
The notice said there were indications that explosives-laden vehicles could be used in simultaneous attacks, particularly in places where large numbers of people gather. Shopping malls and public markets were highlighted as potential targets.
The document warned that attacks could take various forms, including armed assaults, suicide attacks, car bombings, drone attacks or vehicles being driven into crowds.
Ankara İl Jandarma Komutanlığı, 19 Aralık 2025 tarihli yazısıyla IŞİD’in yılbaşı öncesi Ankara ve İstanbul’da terör saldırısı gerçekleştirebileceği yönünde tüm birimlerini uyardı.
Özellikle pazar yerleri ve alışveriş merkezleri hedefte olabilir.
Haber: @batubozkurk /… pic.twitter.com/z7PPpEu2Zg
— Alican Uludağ (@alicanuludag) December 22, 2025
According to Cumhuriyet, the memo said the threat stemmed from what it described as the weakening of ISIL and other radical groups due to sustained counterterrorism operations at home and abroad, prompting them to seek “sensational” attacks around New Year’s Day.
The notice said instructions from the group’s leadership aimed to prevent members from defecting, boost morale among supporters and create fear and public pressure, adding that the group could authorize independent attacks by so-called lone actors operating in various locations.
Security personnel were instructed to increase precautions both within cities and at city entrances and to share any intelligence obtained with Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and police units.
Turkey has previously been targeted by ISIL attacks, including a New Year’s Day assault on the Reina nightclub in İstanbul in 2017 that killed 39 people. The group claimed responsibility for that attack.
Meanwhile, MİT has captured a Turkish national linked to the Islamic State — Khorasan Province (ISKP) in an operation carried out in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Citing security sources Anadolu reported on Monday that MİT had identified a Turkish suspect active in ISIL networks along the Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier following intelligence work.
The suspect was found to have operated alongside Özgür Altun, also known by the alias Abu Yasir al-Turki, who previously played a key role in transferring ISIL operatives from Turkey to the Afghanistan-Pakistan region and was later captured and jailed in Turkey.
According to the report intelligence indicated that the suspect had agreed to carry out suicide attacks targeting civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey and Europe.
MİT identified the suspect as Mehmet Gören, known by the codename “Yahya,” and said he had a managerial position in ISKP and had been tasked with carrying out a suicide attack on behalf of the group.
ISKP is known as an offshoot of ISIL that claims to be seeking to establish an Islamic “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria.
Khorasan refers to a historical region under an ancient caliphate that once included parts of Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Turkmenistan.
Turkish intelligence determined that Gören traveled from Turkey to the Afghanistan-Pakistan region and rose through the ranks after operating in ISIL camps in the area. He was also reported to have survived airstrikes targeting ISIL elements in Pakistan.
Following what Anadolu described as a sensitive intelligence operation, MİT determined Gören’s whereabouts and captured him in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region before transferring him to Turkey.
Turkey has stepped up intelligence and counterterrorism operations against ISIL and its regional affiliates in recent years, citing concerns over transnational networks and the threat of attacks targeting civilians.
The reports come as the US began conducting airstrikes against ISIL targets in Syria last Friday in retaliation for an attack that killed two American soldiers and a US interpreter on December 13.
The three individuals were killed when, according to the Pentagon, a lone ISIL gunman ambushed them while they were supporting a key leader in Palmyra. Three other members of the Iowa National Guard were wounded in the attack.
US President Donald Trump vowed “very serious retaliation” in a TruthSocial post after the attack.
The US Central Command said Friday that since the attack on the American soldiers, it has conducted 10 operations in Syria and Iraq that have resulted in the death or detention of “23 terrorist operatives.”