61 suspected members of Islamic State arrested

Turkish police arrested 61 people today suspected as members of the Islamic State jihadist organisation, between them and Syrians, under a security operation undertaken nationwide on the occasion of the Turkish national holiday, the official news agency “Anadolu Agency” reported.

“Twenty-two suspects, including Islamic State officials, were arrested in the province of Erzurum and 39 others in the province of Bursas”, the Turkish news agency stressed, citing security forces. Among the suspects are two citizens from Azerbaijan and 28 Syrians.

Yesterday, police realised in Ankara the arrest of 49 suspected members of the Islamic State, some of them suspected of preparing an assassination during the Turkish national holiday. Turkey has been hit for two years by numerous bloody assassinations attributed or taken over by the Islamic State. The latest assassination caused at least 39 deaths at a discotheque in Istanbul on New Year's Eve.