The Turkish authorities continued their campaigns against the terrorist organization "ISIS" days before the 36th NATO summit in Ankara next Tuesday.

The campaigns against the "state" cells extended beyond the Turkish capital, which witnessed a clash last week with one of its members that ended in his death and the injury of his wife and her arrest.

Expanded Operations

Counter-terrorism forces in the Istanbul Security Directorate carried out simultaneous raids in 43 different locations, including two mosques, resulting in the arrest of 39 people.

Security sources said on Thursday, July 2, that among those arrested were two leading ISIS members: Harith Karadağ and Murat Gizinler, who were involved in activities supporting the terrorist organization and had previously made extremist statements, claiming that "the state does not rule according to Islamic principles, that God's law is not applied, and that rulers practice paganism."

The sources reported that the detainees were organizing religious classes and discussions in their illegal associations and mosques, and collected money under the names of zakat and charity, which was directed to the "Islamic State" organization.

13 ISIS members arrested in western Turkey

At the same time, in coordination with the Prosecutor General's Office in Düzce (western Turkey), simultaneous operations were carried out targeting the "Islamic State" in the provinces of Düzce and Bursa.

Security sources said that during the operation, special operations teams succeeded in arresting 13 members of the terrorist organization.

The operation was carried out in coordination between the security directorates of the two states, and the intelligence and counter-terrorism branches participated in the framework of detecting and preventing the terrorist activities of the "state", it added.

As part of the operation, simultaneous raids were carried out at specific addresses in Düzce and Bursa, with the support of special forces, and the arrested persons were referred to the judicial authorities after completing legal procedures against them in the security directorates, she said.

Turkish authorities have arrested 175 people on charges of "belonging to a terrorist organization" in connection with protests against the hosting of the 36th NATO summit in Ankara on July 7-8.

Among those arrested are members of the terrorist organization "ISIS", extremist leftist organizations listed as Terror B, including the Popular Revolutionary Liberation Front Party, academics, journalists, lawyers, and members of a civilian environmental protection organization.

Continuous Combat

Turkey continues its intensive efforts to eliminate the sleeper cells and financing and propaganda networks of the terrorist organization "ISIS", which it listed as a terrorist organization in 2013, after its activities grew again during the last two years, after 7 years of decline due to the continuous security campaigns at home since the terrorist attack carried out by the Uzbek ISIS Abdulkadir Masharipov, aka "Abu Muhammad al-Khorasani", on the "Rena" nightclub in Istanbul on New Year's Day in 2017, which led to the death of 39 people and the wounding of 79 others Most of them are foreigners.

The recent period witnessed a focus on specific operations targeting the state's funding and media networks after it renewed its activity with the attack carried out by elements affiliated with the "Khorasan Province" (the most active arms of the organization) on a church in Istanbul in early February 2024.

The fight against the "state" activity was not limited to operations only at home, as Turkish intelligence began operations in coordination with the intelligence of other countries, the most important of which are Syria and Pakistan, which resulted in the arrest of 10 wanted members of the "state" in the Syrian-Lebanese border areas, including those involved in the bombings of Reyhaniya in the southern province of Hatay in 2013, which was the first activity of the terrorist organization, and in a bombing in the vicinity of the main train station in the capital Ankara on October 10, 2015.

Attacks claimed by or attributed to ISIS have killed more than 300 people and injured hundreds more.