The Ankara police carried out numerous raids at various addresses in the capital and detained more than 200 people on suspicion of links to extremist groups, including the “Islamic State“, the Associated Press reported, more than BTA.
A quoted statement from the Ankara Chief Prosecutor's Office said that warrants had been issued for a total of 241 suspects, 209 of whom were subsequently detained in police and gendarmerie raids in the Ankara area.
The agency notes that Turkey is taking preventive security measures ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara on July 7-8 and recalls that during the summit itself, demonstrations are planned to be banned and access to roads leading to the airports, as well as blocking the areas around the meeting venue and the hotels where the delegations are staying.
Turkish authorities regularly carry out various actions, and last month security forces detained 324 people suspected of having links to the “Islamic State” in a large-scale operation across the country, the AP reports.