Turkish police launched raids across the country on Friday, detaining 21 people, most suspected of belonging to Islamic State, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Advertisement
Other suspects were believed to have been working to recruit fighters for the group, the agency said.
The foreigners, whose nationalities were not immediately clear, were planning to cross into Syria to fight for IS, which follows a fundamentalist version of Islam. Two automatic rifles, a large number of ammunition, organizational documents and military uniforms were seized in the raids; the three foreign suspects were reportedly preparing to go to Syria.
Turkey fiercely rejects the accusations, saying it is making every effort to secure a long border and in turn has accused the West of not playing its part to shoulder the burden of hosting 1.8 million refugees from Syria. The other arrests were in northwestern Kocaeli province and the southern provinces of Sanliurfa, which borders Syria, and Mersin.
Officials at the counterterrorism department in Istanbul’s police headquarters declined to comment on any details on the operation, but it was revealed that authorities had initially issued arrest warrants for at least 30 suspects.
Advertisement
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said the Syrian conflict poses a major threat to Turkey.
