ANKARA

Turkish security forces arrested 33 foreign nationals in the capital Ankara over their suspected links to the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group, police said on Monday.

Police nabbed 33 suspects, including 31 Iraqi and two Syrian nationals, in simultaneous operations to arrest 39 terror suspects, the Turkish General Directorate of Security said on X.

Simultaneous operations were carried out in 39 addresses in Ankara.

The suspects will be handed over to a local repatriation center and efforts are ongoing to arrest the remaining six suspects, it added.

In 2013, Türkiye 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 attacks. In response, Türkiye launched anti-terror operations at home and abroad to prevent further attacks.