News / Turkey

Turkish police arrest 20 during anti-Daesh raids

Friday, 06 November 2015 10:03 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 06 November 2015 11:09 AM ]

Turkish special police forces are pictured in Turkey’s main Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, October 26, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

Turkish police have reportedly detained around 20 people during fresh raids against suspected Takfiri Daesh terrorists inside Turkey.

The arrests were made in the southern province of Antalya on Friday, the country’s Doğan News Agency reported.

According to Turkey’s Ihlas news agency, two Russians and two women were among the detainees.

The raids come as a summit of the world’s 20 major economies, known as the G20, is scheduled to be held in the Mediterranean province on November 15-16.

Ankara, which has for some time been engaged in missions to locate suspected Daesh cells on Turkish soil, extended the operations after a double bombing that killed more than 100 people in Ankara on October 10. The blasts targeted the activists who had gathered for a peace rally organized by leftist and pro-Kurdish opposition groups.

Emergency personnel prepare to transport the bodies of victims away from the site of twin explosions at the main train station in Turkey’s capital Ankara, October 10, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Daesh may have been behind the attack.

Ankara also blamed a July 20 bombing in the border town of Suruc on the Takfiri terror group. At least 30 people were killed and nearly a 100 wounded in that explosion.

Turkey has time and again been accused of being one of the main supporters of the militant groups operating in Syria, with reports saying that Ankara actively trains and arms the Takfiri militants there and facilitates their safe passage into the Arab country.

Turkish opposition daily Cumhuriyet integrated videos in a June report, implicating Turkish Intelligence Service (MIT) in ensuring safe passage into Syria for Daesh terrorists.

The center-left paper had also posted a video on its website on May 29, purportedly showing trucks belonging to the Turkish intelligence agency carrying weapons to the Takfiri terrorists operating in Syria.

The activities of Daesh inside Turkish territory, however, seem to be an inevitable side-effect of support for the militants in Syria that cannot be easily managed.

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