Turkey has further stepped up its campaign against the IS group, rounding up more than 100 suspected members in a spate of nationwide raids this week. Part of a sustained crackdown on the terrorist group, which throughout the last two years has repeatedly hit Turkey with significant attacks.
Mass Arrests Across Turkey
These raids were conducted in various cities, including Ankara and Istanbul. The detainees comprised 119 individuals suspected of having links with the IS organization. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya confirmed the arrests and shared details of the operation via X, formerly known as Twitter.
This was in tandem with a similar sting operation earlier this August where 99 suspects were detained. The government has relentlessly pursued IS members since the collapse of its self-proclaimed “caliphate” in 2019 sent many of its operatives fleeing to Turkey.
History of Terrorism in Turkey
Turkey has been among the countries that have suffered a lot from the IS group. One of the most infamous was perhaps this attack in 2017 when the gunman went wild at a nightclub in Istanbul and killed dozens. Its determination to prevent more attacks has led it to arrest over 3,600 suspects since June 2023 because of IS ties.
The most shocking revelation, however, was the findings that two of the attackers who launched a deadly attack against Moscow’s Crocus City Hall in March 2023 had earlier spent time in Turkey before unleashing the massacre. A fact which has brought renewed impetus in the belief that Turkey must get dead serious about terrorism.
The latest wave of raids against the Islamic State group by Turkey underlines continuous determination and efforts by Ankara in the name of national security and to prevent further terrorist attacks. So long as IS is a threat, Turkish security forces have mounted routine operations to dismantle the networks of the group and detain its members.