Recep Bilek, Tanju Ozkaya, Izzet Mazi, and Sezgin Pancar
January 22, 2021•Update: January 22, 2021
SAMSUN/ANKARA/KAHRAMANMARAS/MERSIN/GAZIANTEP, Turkey
At least 29 people, most of them foreign nationals, were arrested in Turkey over their alleged links to the Daesh terror group, also known as ISIS, security sources said.
Police teams in the Black Sea province of Samsun launched simultaneous operations at 13 addresses in Ilkadim, Canik and Carsamba districts, said a source on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
During the operation, four Syrian and 10 Iraqi nationals, who were active within the terror group, were detained. Digital materials were also seized from the suspects’ addresses, it added.
Separately, prosecutors in the capital Ankara issued arrest warrants for 10 foreign nationals as part of a probe to uncover the terror group’s members who distribute money to the relatives of Daesh members who are killed in clashes in Syria and Iraq.
The operation has been launched in three provinces to nab the suspects, who are also learned to be involved in the killing of a foreign national, said the Prosecutor’s Office in Ankara.
Soon after the start of the operation, all 10 suspects were arrested.
Meanwhile, in southeastern Kahramanmaras province, three more suspects were detained by police teams after they were learned to be active within the terror group both in Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep provinces.
Another two Daesh members were nabbed in southern Mersin province, according to the provincial Gendarmerie Command.
They are said to be organizing illegal crossings through Turkish borders to help group members reach Europe.
Separately, of 37 suspects who were arrested for providing financial support for Daesh/ISIS terror group in a Gaziantep-based operation conducted in 15 provinces simultaneously on Jan. 19, three were detained by a criminal court on Friday.
Among the 13 suspects released, eight were released on bail under home detention and 13 others with an international travel ban.
In 2013, Turkey became one of the first countries to declare Daesh/ISIS a terrorist group.
The country has since been attacked by Daesh/ISIS terrorists multiple times, with at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks, and four armed attacks that killed 315 people and injured hundreds more.
In response, Turkey launched anti-terror operations at home and abroad to prevent further attacks.
*Writing by Sena Guler and Dilan Pamuk
