Turkey's counter-terrorism units arrested on Tuesday dozens of ISIS members during wide-scale operations launched in several provinces.
The security operations were conducted after close follow-up revealed the suspects' involvement with ISIS organization in Syria and Iraq, and operatives for the group inside Turkey by providing shelters for its members and promoting for it through social media.
Turkish anti-terrorism forces in Samsun, northern Turkey, arrested 10 Iraqis suspected of taking part in ISIS activities during their presence in Iraq.
The forces confiscated all electronic devices in the locations they raided.
Turkish counter-terrorism units also arrested 17 ISIS suspects in central Turkey, security sources said on Tuesday.
Police in the Kayseri province said the suspects operated in Syria and Iraq, and that they were arrested in a simultaneous raid on a number of houses before being transferred to the headquarters of the General Security Directorate where they will be interrogated.
Meanwhile, Turkish security arrested 18 out of 21 wanted persons for acting on behalf of the ISIS group in Istanbul and three other provinces. Search operations are ongoing to apprehend the remaining three still at large.
Security sources seized three pistols and several documents related to the terrorist organization during their raids.
Since 2017, Turkey has been launching intensive security operations against ISIS in the country, mainly after the deadly attack on the Reina nightclub in Istanbul on New Year’s Eve that killed 69 people, mainly foreigners.
Between 2015 and 2017, ISIS launched several attacks in Turkey that left over 300 people killed and hundreds more injured.
