12 Daesh/ISIS terror suspects arrested in Turkey

BALIKESIR, Turkey

Turkish security forces arrested 12 people suspected of having links to the Daesh/ISIS terror group, security sources said on Tuesday.


Prosecutors in the northwestern Balikesir province issued arrest warrants for the suspects for allegedly providing financial support to the terror group between 2018 and 2019 after Turkey's Operation Euphrates Shield, the sources said, requesting anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.


Since 2016, Ankara has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).



The suspects were arrested in simultaneous operations in the capital Ankara, Istanbul, Konya, Adana, and Sanliurfa provinces.


A large number of digital materials and organizational documents were seized in the raids, the sources added.


In 2013, Turkey became one of the first countries to declare Daesh/ISIS a terrorist organization.


The country has since been attacked by the terror group multiple times, with over 300 people killed and hundreds more injured in at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks, and four armed assaults.


In response, Turkey launched anti-terror operations at home and abroad to prevent further attacks.