The suspect, identified as Ibrahim Burtakucin, was detained in the province of Matalia, in the east of the country, from where he tried to travel abroad to join the terrorist group.
This Friday, Turkish authorities detained a suspected member of the Islamic State (IS) group who was planning an attack for New Year’s Day, security sources cited by the state-run Anadolu agency reported.
The same sources reported that the suspect, identified as Ibrahim Burtakucin, was detained in the province of Matalia, in the east of the country, from where he tried to travel abroad to join the terrorist group.
Authorities suspect he was in contact with IS supporters in Türkiye and abroad, although no details have been released about their planshaving seized publications from the terrorist group and digital devices.
On Thursday, more than 100 people were detained in Türkiye for suspected involvement in IS attacks during the end of year festivities.
The Istanbul Prosecutor ordered the arrest of 137 suspects of belonging to IS, of which 115 were detained on Christmas Day.
According to a statement from the prosecutor’s office, the arrest order was issued following intelligence data indicating that “the Islamic State terrorist organization was planning attacks during Christmas and New Year celebrations.”
Similar arrests are regularly carried out at the end of the year, before traditional celebrations.
Turkey, which shares a 900-kilometer border with Syria, fears the infiltration of the Islamic terrorist group, which remains active in the neighboring country.
Turkish intelligence services announced this week the detention between Afghanistan and Pakistan of of an alleged IS leaderwhich is said to be planning attacks in the region and Europe.
At the time of arrest, the suspect, Mehmet Gören, who had since been taken to Türkiye, was accused by the Turkish intelligence services of “planning suicide attacks against civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Türkiye and Europe.”
Several countries, including France, recorded a particularly high terrorist threat at the end of this year.
One of the attacks IS’s bloodiest killings in Türkiye occurred on January 1, 2017at the Reina nightclub, in Istanbul, where dozens of people celebrated the New Year.
Or attack left almost 40 dead and 80 injured.
