Turkey Detains 51 ISIS Suspects in Sweeping Operation Across 16 Provinces
Authorities say the suspects financed the group through charities and spread propaganda on social media. The raids follow a separate operation last week that netted 83 people.
Turkish authorities have detained 51 suspects linked to the Islamic State group in operations carried out across 16 provinces, the Interior Ministry announced. The raids were coordinated by the Counter-Terrorism Department of the General Command of the Gendarmerie and republican prosecutor's offices.
The operations took place in Adana, Adıyaman, Balıkesir, Bursa, Diyarbakır, Düzce, Edirne, Gaziantep, Iğdır, Kayseri, Mardin, Mersin, Nevşehir, Sinop, Şanlıurfa, and Zonguldak.
According to the Interior Ministry, the detained suspects are members of ISIS. The ministry stated that these individuals provided financing for the organisation through affiliated people and so-called charitable structures. It also established that they spread the group's propaganda through their social media accounts.
The ministry emphasised that operations against ISIS structures responsible for activities and financing will continue.
The raids come just over a week after a separate operation against ISIS on September 25. That operation was carried out in 28 different cities, including major metropolises such as Ankara, Istanbul, Antalya, and Bursa. Authorities detained 83 suspects and seized a large number of organisational documents and digital materials. The ministry said at the time that the suspects were involved in ISIS membership, financing the organisation, and spreading propaganda through social media.
For now, Turkish authorities are signalling that their campaign against ISIS networks is far from over. The operations target not only active members but also the financial and propaganda networks that sustain the group. The message from Ankara is clear: the crackdown will continue. And with 134 suspects detained in just over a week, the scale of the operations suggests that ISIS networks remain active and embedded in Turkish society, even years after the group lost its territorial hold in Syria and Iraq.
Written by Thomas Nussbaumer thomas.nussbaumer@alpineweekly.com