Turkish police carried out large-scale operations against the Islamic State group across Turkey on Tuesday, detaining 357 suspects in what authorities described as one of the largest anti-terrorism operations in the country's recent history.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that police carried out simultaneous raids in 21 provinces, including Istanbul, Ankara, and Yalova. The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office confirmed that 110 suspects were detained in raids on 114 addresses in the city alone.
The arrests came a day after a deadly eight-hour gunfight in the coastal town of Yalova, located on the Sea of Marmara south of Istanbul. The violent confrontation left three police officers and six militants dead, with eight police officers and one additional security personnel wounded during the siege.
Authorities revealed that some of the detained suspects were linked to the militants who opened fire against police in Yalova, while others were suspected of planning possible attacks around New Year's Day. Several detainees are also suspected of collecting money under the guise of charity work and funneling it to ISIS-linked networks operating in Syria. Among those detained were foreign nationals connected to IS fighters in active conflict zones.
The operation followed the detention of more than 100 suspected IS members just a week earlier, who were allegedly linked to planned Christmas and New Year attacks. Turkish security forces have remained on high alert following several ISIS-linked incidents in recent years.
The deadliest ISIS attack in Turkey occurred on October 10, 2015, when suicide bombers targeted a peace rally outside Ankara's main railway station, killing at least 102 people and injuring more than 400. That attack remains the deadliest terror incident in Turkish history and has shaped the country's aggressive approach to combating the terrorist organization.
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