UPDATE - Police arrest 11 Daesh/ISIS terror suspects in Türkiye

UPDATES WITH MORE ARRESTS IN MERSIN PROVINCE; REVISES HEADLINE, LEDE, DECK

By Cankut Tasdan, Gokhan Duzyol and Serkan Avci

ANKARA/AYDIN/MERSIN, Türkiye (AA) - Turkish police have arrested 11 people over their suspected links to the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group, security sources said on Wednesday.

Police teams conducted simultaneous anti-terror operations in the capital Ankara to arrest 10 foreign nationals over their suspected links to the terrorist group, according to the sources who requested anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Nine of the suspects were arrested, the sources added.

The operation was initiated over the suspicion that the suspects had been in conflict zones and carried out activities for the Daesh/ISIS terror group in the past years, they said.

The arrests were made in the operations carried out across Ankara, and the remaining suspect is sought by the police, the sources added.

Separately, police arrested another Daesh/ISIS suspect in the Didim district of Türkiye’s Aegean province of Aydin. The suspect, only identified with the initials A.P., was released on probation.

Moreover, two more terror suspects were arrested in the southern Mersin province.

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

The country has since been attacked by the terror group multiple times, with over 300 people killed and hundreds more injured in at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks, and four armed attacks. In response, Türkiye launched anti-terror operations at home and abroad to prevent further attacks.