2024-03-10 12:23:47
Turkish police have detained 33 people suspected of links to the Islamic State group who are believed to be plotting attacks ahead of the country’s local elections later this month, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said today, the Associated Press reported.
He wrote on the Ex network that the suspects were preparing an action before the upcoming local elections, which will be held across the country on March 31, BTA adds.
Counter-terrorism police in Sakarya, northwestern Turkey, seized weapons, cash and “organizational documents” during raids.
“We will not tolerate any terrorists. We will continue our struggle without interruption with the maximum efforts of our security forces,” Yerlikaya said.
The network provided personnel to war zones and financial support for Islamic State, operating from illegal mosques and religious schools, he added.
Turkey has suffered numerous attacks linked to Islamic State in the past 10 years, including a shooting at a church in Istanbul in January that left one person dead.
The group is also linked to one of the country’s deadliest attacks, in which more than 100 people were killed during a peaceful march in Ankara in October 2015, the AP recalls.