Türkiye’s security forces on 3 Dec 2024 apprehended 77 suspects linked to the IS terrorist group in countrywide anti-terror operations. The operations were conducted in 32 cities, including the capital of Ankara, Istanbul, southeastern Gaziantep, and northwestern Tekirdağ.
Türkiye has been witnessing several significant seizures claimed by Daesh, including a 2017 nightclub incident that killed dozens of people. Since the 2019 failure of the self-proclaimed “caliphate,” some supposed Daesh members have settled in Türkiye, working a so-called Khorasan Province network, which looks for “new ways” and compels more foreign nationals for its actions after constant counterterrorism functions became a “challenge,” according to Turkish security sources.
Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization intercepted the terrorist group’s efforts for recruitment, receiving funds and logistics support after its latest function in the aftermath of a church shooting in Istanbul in January. Turkish authorities stated that since June 2023, more than 3,600 individuals with suspected links to the terrorist group have been apprehended. IS remains the second largest threat of terrorism for Türkiye, which confronts security risks from multiple terrorist outfits.
Suspected terrorists from IS and other groups, such as the PKK and its Syrian attachment, the YPG, rely on a web of members and allies in Türkiye. Türkiye has been increasingly working to cut off and thwart the financing of terrorism.
In December last year, Turkish intelligence arrested a top Daesh terrorist in charge of the terrorist group’s finances in the Damascus area in an operation in Türkiye’s southern Mersin province. Around $28,000, and digital assets were seized in the operation pointing to Hudhaifa al-Mouri, code-named “Ayyoub,” who was accountable for coordinating funds transmitted to Daesh members.
