Share

Turkey Reportedly Detains 20 IS Suspects

On Friday, at least 20 people have been detained suspected of links to Islamic State in its southwestern province of Antalya, which is a week ahead before a seaside resort there hosts a G20 summit of world leaders.

Advertisement

Anadolu Agency says the suspects, including two Russian nationals, were detained Friday in raids in and around Antalya, which will be hosting U.S. President Barack Obama and other G-20 leaders later this month.

There was no further information about the Antalya raids and no immediate comment from the prime minister’s office.

The attack near the border with Syria killed more than 30 Kurds.

Turkey had initially supported Islamist rebels fighting both Syrian Kurds and the regime of President Bashar al-Assad but its policy backfired after the emergence of the brutal Islamic State, which has seized swathes of land in Iraqand Syria.

The opposition in Turkey, including Kurds, still accuse Ankara of colluding with IS – charges vehemently rejected by the government which blacklisted the jihadist group as a terrorist organisation in 2013.

Police have carried out several raids across Turkey in the past weeks, detaining dozens of people linked to IS as well as stepping up efforts to prevent suspected militants from crossing in and out of neighboring Syria.

Nine suspected Islamic State (IS) militants were arrested in Turkey for allegedly plotting a suicide bomb attack against a political party in Istanbul, officials said.

This week’s arrests also follow Turkey’s second election in five months on Sunday, which saw the ruling AK Party recover its parliamentary majority, which it lost in the first poll in May.

Advertisement

Turkey vowed to take a more active role in combating ISIS in July and President Tayyip Erdogan has said operations against them will continue.

ISIS militant Turkey