Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that Turkish police had detained 10 individuals believed to be associated with the Islamic State, with five of them subsequently placed under arrest.
Yerlikaya disclosed that Turkey’s MIT intelligence agency, in collaboration with police and counter-terrorism units, executed an operation in the coastal city of Izmir, prompted by intelligence indicating that the suspects had concealed provisions within the city.
During the operation, authorities uncovered explosive gels, materials used in the production of explosives, as well as weapons and ammunition hidden in the mountainous terrain of Izmir’s Bornova district, as noted by Yerlikaya.
Following the operation, “Ten suspects were apprehended, with five of them placed under arrest, while the remaining five were subjected to judicial control orders,” the minister conveyed on the social media platform X. Under judicial control orders, suspects can be released from police custody, albeit with specific conditions and supervision.
Footage from the operation, which Yerlikaya shared on X, depicted several police vehicles in a mountainous setting, with officers scouring the interior of a small cave for the concealed materials. The footage also showed authorities searching a residence and detaining the suspects, though Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage.
Turkey has experienced numerous attacks attributed to the Islamic State, including the notorious assault on an Istanbul nightclub on January 1, 2017, in which 39 lives were tragically lost. Turkish law enforcement has conducted several operations aimed at countering the activities of these militants.
