Turkey Detains 99 Suspected ISIS Members in Nationwide Raids
In a significant crackdown on terrorist activity, Turkey’s interior minister, Ali Yerlikaya, announced on Friday that 99 suspected members of the Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist group had been detained in recent raids across the country. The arrests were carried out under the GURZ-4 operation, which took place over the past three days.
According to Yerlikaya, the majority of the arrests were made in Ankara and Izmir, in the west, as well as in the center, east, and south of the country. He reiterated the government’s stance, saying, "We will not tolerate any terrorist."
This latest operation brings the total number of suspected ISIS members detained by Turkish authorities to 2,919, following a recent mass arrest of 147 people in March.
The arrests come as Turkish authorities continue to grapple with the threat of ISIS, which has been responsible for numerous attacks around the world. In one notable example, two of the attackers who massacred 145 people at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow last March had spent several weeks in Turkey before heading to Russia, according to local authorities.
The Turkish government has made repeated efforts to combat ISIS, which has seen the group’s presence in the country diminish significantly in recent years.
