Türkiye nabs 2 for trying to illegally cross to Greece

By Utku Simsek and Firat Ozdemir

ANKARA / GAZIANTEP, Türkiye (AA) - At least two people were nabbed by Turkish border guards as they tried to illegally cross to Greece, the National Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

“In the investigation, it was determined that one of the arrested persons was a member of the al-Qaeda terrorist group,” a ministry statement said.

Meanwhile, a senior Daesh/ISIS terror suspect was arrested by security forces in Türkiye’s southeastern province of Gaziantep on Saturday.

The terrorist, identified only by the initials H.A, was the terror group’s so-called "Raqqa security emir" and "governor of Nineveh," according to a statement by the provincial police.

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

It has since been attacked by the terror group several times, with 315 people killed and hundreds injured in at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks, and four armed assaults.

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