Turkish police stage dawn raids on suspected Islamic State terrorists
Turkish police have detained dozens of suspected Islamic State militants in a series of dawn raids, including some believed to be planning attacks on New Year’s Eve, as the authorities strengthened security measures ahead of the celebrations.
The unprecedented mobilisation of police patrols and the arrests of terror suspects in Istanbul and Ankara were aimed at preventing a repeat of last year’s midnight assault on a nightclub on the Bosphorus, in which 39 people died when a militant opened fire on revellers.
Street celebrations have been cancelled across Istanbul as a result of what authorities say are security concerns.
“We have taken all precautions for our citizens to spend the New Year’s Eve in the best way possible,” said the Istanbul governor, Vasip Şahin. “We have also warned entertainment venues which have their own security personnel to take precautions.”
Seventy-five suspected Isis members were arrested in the country’s two largest cities, Istanbul and Ankara, on the second day of sweeping raids across 12 provinces. On Thursday another 120 suspected members of the terror group were arrested.
The state-run Anadolu agency said some of those arrested on Friday were suspected of planning New Year’s Eve attacks in the country, and the majority of them were foreigners.
Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate collapsed this year as it lost its two largest cities, Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq, and retreated to desert hideouts or attempted to flee the battlefield through the Turkish border.
A year ago a lone gunman, Abdulkadir Masharipov, raided the Reina nightclub in Istanbul’s Ortakoy district on New Year’s Eve and killed 39 people, mostly foreigners. Masharipov’s trial, along with that of 56 other defendants, began in December and was adjourned until March. Prosecutors are seeking 40 life sentences.
Several districts in Istanbul cancelled planned street celebrations over security concerns, including in Taksim Square and the Beşiktaş district, as well as in Şişli, whose municipality is controlled by secular opponents of the president. All are neighbourhoods popular with foreigners and with an active nightlife.
The move will appease conservative supporters of the president, who consider New Year’s Eve celebrations un-Islamic.
Government officials have said 37,000 police and 4,000 gendarmerie officers will be deployed across Istanbul in preparation for Sunday night.
Islamic State has orchestrated some of the deadliest attacks in Turkey over the last two years, including a double suicide bombing in Ankara in October 2015, which killed more than 100 people at a peace rally. The group also carried out a gun and bomb attack on Istanbul’s Atatürk airport in June 2016, killing 43 people.
Turkey intervened in the war in Syria last year partly to oust Islamic State from a number of strongholds along its 500-mile border with its war-torn neighbour. But as the militants’ territory shrinks, Ankara faces a renewed challenge as fighters attempt to flee and return to their home countries in Europe or the Middle East, possibly to orchestrate attacks.
Source: The Guardian
