UPDATE - Turkey: 17 Daesh/ISIS suspects in custody

UPDATES WITH NUMBER OF ARRESTS, CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, AND LEDE

By Necat Hazar, Sezgin Pancar and Behcet Alkan

VAN / NEVSEHIR / MERSIN, Turkey (AA) – A total of 17 people in Turkey with suspected links to the Daesh/ISIS terror group have been arrested or remanded as part of anti-terror operations, security sources said Tuesday.

Twelve of the suspects were remanded in the eastern Van province after counter-terrorism police and the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) launched an operation against 34 suspects believed to be affiliated with the terror group, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Twenty-two were released under judicial control after the suspects were arrested at their addresses, where many documents and digital materials related to the terror group were reportedly seized.

Separately, anti-terror teams in the central Nevsehir province launched an operation to arrest a Daesh/ISIS suspect.

The suspect, a Syrian national identified as M.E.C, was detained on allegations that he was a member of a terrorist group and got armed training from the group.

Four Syrian national Daesh/ISIS suspects were also remanded in the southern port city of Mersin after 14 suspects were taken in custody.

Shotguns, pistols and digital materials were seized at the residences of the suspects.

One of the suspects was released on condition of judicial control, and nine were released on the order of the prosecutor.

Security forces stated that three of the suspects were deported.

In 2013, Turkey became one of the first countries to declare Daesh/ISIS a terrorist group.

The country has since been attacked by Daesh/ISIS terrorists multiple times, with 315 people killed and hundreds more injured in at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks, and four armed assaults.

In response, Turkey launched anti-terror operations at home and abroad to prevent further attacks.

*Writing by Dilara Hamit