Turkey detains 357 in nationwide raids after deadly clash with suspected ISIL members

Turkish police detained 357 suspected members of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in raids across 21 provinces on Tuesday, a day after a predawn operation in northwestern Yalova province turned into a gun battle that killed three police officers, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.

In a post on X Yerlikaya said the raids were carried out in provinces including İstanbul, Ankara and Yalova.

The clash in Yalova began around 2 a.m. local time on Monday when ISIL suspects opened fire during a raid.

Six suspected ISIL militants were killed along with three officers, while eight police officers and one neighborhood night watchman were wounded.

Yerlikaya said the six militants killed were Turkish citizens and that five women and six children who were with them were safely evacuated.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan conveyed condolences for the slain officers.

Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party and a key Erdoğan ally, described the Yalova clash as a “bloody provocation” and called ISIL a tool of what he labeled “Zionist imperialist” forces in a statement posted on X.

Tuncer Bakırhan, co-chair of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), said ISIL remained a threat and called for a united national stance against ISIL and related groups.

Murat Emir, a deputy parliamentary group chair from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), criticized a broadcast restriction imposed on news concerning the operation, saying the public should not be kept from learning what happened.

Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said the Yalova Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had launched an investigation and assigned five prosecutors to the case.

Yerlikaya said on Tuesday that 16 people had been detained over what he called “provocative posts” about the Yalova clash.

Authorities have carried out a series of ISIL sweeps in recent days after intelligence warnings about possible attacks during Christmas and New Year’s events.

Turkey has faced major ISIL attacks in the past decade, including the January 1, 2017, nightclub attack in İstanbul that killed 39 people.