MIDEAST-CRISIS/TURKEY MILITANTS DETAINED Turkey arrests dozens in sweep against Islamic State, Kurdish militants

Record ID: 146237

  • Title: MIDEAST-CRISIS/TURKEY MILITANTS DETAINED Turkey arrests dozens in sweep against Islamic State, Kurdish militants
  • Date: 28th July 2015
  • Summary: ANKARA, TURKEY (JULY 27, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF POLICE OUTSIDE HOUSE OF A SUSPECT HELICOPTER POLICE OFFICERS WALKING VARIOUS OF POLICE OFFICERS / VEHICLES OUTSIDE HOUSE ARMOURED POLICE VEHICLE PARKED IN NEIGHBOURHOOD
  • Embargoed: 12th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAF1W94ZCQ5Q5OYJJ10NJ5PVKMH
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Turkish police detained dozens of suspected Islamic State and Kurdish militants in early morning raids on Monday (July 27), local media said, amid a crackdown on the armed groups and air strikes in Syria and Iraq.
    Long a reluctant member of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, Turkey last week made a dramatic turnaround by granting the alliance access to its air bases and bombarding targets in Syria linked to the jihadist movement as well as detaining suspected members in Turkish cities.
    Turkish jets also attacked Kurdish insurgent camps in Iraq for a second night on Sunday, in a campaign that could end Ankara's peace process with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
    Broadcaster CNN Turk said more than 800 suspected Islamic State and PKK members had been arrested in the past week in a domestic crackdown carried out alongside the air strikes.
    Some 500 police swept through the Haci Bayram district of the capital Ankara and detained 15 Islamic State suspects, 11 of them foreign, the pro-government Yeni Safak daily said.
    Operations also took place in the southeastern city of Adiyaman, where 19 people with alleged links to the PKK were detained, it reported.
    Turkey's air strikes on PKK camps in northern Iraq come despite negotiations with the rebels that were launched in 2012 to end a 30-year insurgency. The PKK has said the action has rendered the peace process meaningless.
    The Syrian Kurdish YPG, which has links to the PKK but which has coordinated with the United States in the fight against Islamic State in northern Syria, meanwhile said on Monday the Turkish army had shelled its positions on the outskirts of the Islamic State-held town of Jarablus.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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