Türkiye detains 36 suspects linked to Daesh in nationwide raids

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has said that Türkiye detained 36 suspects tied to the Daesh terrorist group in raids across four provinces.

In a post on social media platform X, Yerlikaya said police had seized suspects who were found to have been active within Daesh to have helped fund and provide supplies to the group, according to Daily Sabah.

Police also seized several unlicensed shotguns and pistols as part of the operations, the minister said.

Türkiye has been rounding up Daesh-linked suspects in ramped-up operations since the terrorist group attacked an Italian church in Istanbul in late January, killing one man during Sunday Mass.

Daesh operates a so-called Khorasan Province (Daesh-K) network in Türkiye, which looks for "new methods" and recruits more foreign members for its activities after constant counterterrorism operations became a "challenge," security sources say.

The National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) thwarted the terrorist group's efforts for recruitment, obtaining funds and logistics support after its latest operation in the aftermath of the church shooting.

Daesh remains the second biggest threat of terrorism for Türkiye, which faces security risks from multiple terrorist groups and was one of the first countries to declare it as a terrorist group in 2013.

In December last year, Turkish security forces detained 32 suspects over alleged links with Daesh, who were planning attacks on churches and synagogues, as well as the Iraqi Embassy.

Daesh extremists have not previously targeted places of worship on Turkish soil, but they have carried out a string of attacks, including against a nightclub in Istanbul in 2017 that left 39 people dead and a 2015 bombing attack in Ankara that killed 109.

Terrorists from Daesh and other groups, such as the PKK and its Syrian wing, the YPG, rely on a network of members and supporters in Türkiye.

In response, Ankara has been conducting pinpoint operations and freezing assets to eliminate the terrorist groups at their roots. Türkiye deported 9,000 foreign terrorist fighters, mainly from Daesh, from 102 different nationalities, of which 1,168 are from the US or European Union member countries, since 2011.

Turkish airstrikes also target hideouts of Daesh, as well as the PKK, in northern Iraq and Syria near the Turkish border.