Turkey Arrests Over 100 Suspected ISIL Members Amid Ongoing Raids

Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced the arrest of 119 suspected members of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during recent nationwide raids, Turkish Minute reported yesterday.

This operation, which took place in major cities including Ankara and İstanbul, is part of Turkey’s intensified efforts to combat terrorism following several ISIL-claimed attacks, notably the deadly 2017 nightclub shooting.

The latest arrests come on the heels of a previous detention of 99 individuals in early August. Since June 2023, Turkish authorities have apprehended over 3,600 people with suspected ties to ISIL.

Concerns have risen as some members of the group reportedly settled in Turkey after the collapse of their self-declared “caliphate” in 2019. Notably, two attackers involved in the March massacre at Moscow’s Crocus City Hall, which resulted in 145 deaths, had spent time in Turkey prior to the incident.