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Turkish authorities detained 161 suspects in a weeklong series of nationwide operations targeting the Daesh terrorist group, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Friday.
In a statement on X, Yerlikaya said counterterrorism units carried out simultaneous operations in 38 provinces, including Ankara and Istanbul. The suspects were accused of operating within Daesh and providing financial support to the group.
He added that unlicensed weapons, organizational documents, and digital materials were seized during the raids.
“I congratulate our public prosecutors, the Counterterrorism Department of our General Directorate of Security, our Intelligence Directorate, our National Intelligence Organization personnel, our provincial police chiefs, and our police officers,” Yerlikaya said. “We continue our operations without interruption for the peace and security of our nation.”
Daesh has carried out numerous deadly attacks in Türkiye since 2014.
The deadliest occurred on Oct. 10, 2015, when suicide bombers struck Ankara’s central train station, killing more than 100 people and injuring nearly 400.
On June 28, 2016, three Daesh attackers armed with explosives and heavy weapons stormed Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, killing 45 and wounding 163.
Other major attacks in Istanbul included:
Daesh has also repeatedly targeted Türkiye’s southeast:
Beyond Türkiye’s borders, Daesh kidnapped Consul Ozturk Yilmaz and 49 staff members from the Turkish Consulate in Mosul, Iraq, on June 11, 2014. They were later rescued in a Turkish operation.
The group also assassinated two anti-Daesh Al Jazeera journalists in southeastern Türkiye in 2015: Mohamed el-Sarkat in Gaziantep on April 10, and Naji Jerf in Sanliurfa on Dec. 28.
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