Türkiye captures 161 ISIL suspects in a week
ANKARA
Turkish police have detained 161 suspected members of the ISIL terrorist organization over the last week, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Sept. 12.
The suspects were active within the group and providing financial support, he added in a post on X.
They were detained in 38 of the country’s 81 provinces, including the capital Ankara and largest city, Istanbul.
Yerlikaya said unlicensed firearms, ISIL documents and digital materials were seized in the raids.
The operation came as prosecutors were investigating a possible direct organizational link of a deadly attack on a police station in the western province of İzmir to terrorism.
A 16-year-old high-school student this week carried out the attack with a shotgun, killing two police officers.
Social media accounts linked to the assailant revealed posts glorifying groups affiliated with the ISIL terrorist organization.
Shortly before the attack, the assailant wrote that he would execute the attack and become a “martyr,” media reports said, adding that that his phone also bore the ISIL logo.
Authorities launched an investigation into whether the act was the result of individual radicalization alone, or if the teenager had ties to ISIL or another militant network and acted upon orders.
