Ankara, April 17 (IANS): Turkish Police on Wednesday detained 20 suspected members of the Islamic State (IS) group in nationwide operations, according to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, reported by Xinhua News Agency.
Yerlikaya said on social media platform X that the suspects were detained in seven provinces, including Istanbul, Corum, Izmir, Elazig, Eskisehir, Kilis and Trabzon.
Among them, 11 suspects, who were detained in Istanbul, allegedly had links with the terror group's "Dashisha headquarters" in al-Hasakah, northeastern Syria, local news channel Haberturk reported.
Turkiye has stepped up operations against IS terrorists after the group attacked an Istanbul church in late January, killing a civilian during Sunday mass.
The Turkish government designated the IS as a terrorist organization in 2013 and blamed it for a spate of deadly attacks in the country since 2015.