Türkiye detains 357 suspected ISIS members in nationwide raids


X/Ali Yerlikaya A police officer holds the shoulders of a man wearing a black hood with his hands tied behind his backx/Ali Yelikaya

A video shared by Türkiye’s interior minister on social media appeared to show several people being detained

More than 350 suspected Islamic State (IS) members have been detained as part of a nationwide police operation in Türkiye.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 357 suspects were arrested in 21 provinces in coordinated operations on Tuesday morning.

Just a day earlier, three police officers and six suspected militants were killed in an eight-hour siege in the northwestern town of Yalova. Eight other police officers and one security personnel were injured.

Less than a week ago, authorities arrested 115 more suspects who prosecutors said were plotting attacks against non-Muslims over Christmas and New Year’s.

Tuesday’s operations were carried out across the country, including in Ankara, Istanbul and Yalova, Yerlikaya said in a post on X.

He added: “Just as we have never given a chance to those who seek to bring this country to its knees with terrorism, we will never give them a chance in the future.”

The interior minister also shared a video showing dozens of counter-terrorism officers taking part in the operation and detaining several people.

Police seized documents and digital materials during raids at addresses in Istanbul and two other provinces, and images in local media also showed a number of weapons, including knives and bullets, where 110 people were detained, according to the prosecutor’s office.

A statement from Istanbul’s chief prosecutor’s office said intelligence suggested the suspects might try to carry out an attack on New Year’s Day.

It also noted that 41 of the detainees were suspected of being linked to Monday’s clashes in Yalova.

Interior Minister Yelikaya said another 16 people had been detained in Yalova for “provocative posts” on social media.

The funerals of the three officials killed in Yalova – Ilker Pehlivan, Turgut Külünk and Yasin Koçyiğit – were held on Tuesday.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his condolences to the families and said Türkiye would continue to fight “bloodthirsty criminals who threaten our country’s peace and national security.”

Earlier this month, authorities conducted large-scale raids and arrested 115 people. Officials say Islamic State supporters have been actively planning attacks across Turkey, particularly targeting non-Muslims on Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Reuters On December 29, 2025, Turkish special forces left the scene of an operation in a house in Yalova province where suspected Islamic State militants were believed to be hiding.Reuters

The siege at a house in Yalova lasted about eight hours, local media reported

Turkish security services regularly target people suspected of having links to the Islamic State.

The country shares a 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Syria, and the group continues to operate in parts of the country.

Syrian President Ahmed Sala, who has close ties to the Turkish government, has vowed to work with the United States and Europe to root out the remnants of Islamic State.

The United States launched a wave of airstrikes on Friday targeting the group’s strongholds across Syria in response to the killings of three Americans.

Earlier this month, two U.S. soldiers and a civilian translator were killed by Islamic State militants in an ambush.



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