Ahead of G20 summit, Turkey detains 20 IS suspects

Barely 10 days ahead of the G20 summit which will be attended by world leaders, the Turkish police have detained 20 Islamic State suspects in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya, putting spotlight on the growing influence of this malignant Islamist organization.

Turkey has been closely tracking the IS terrorists ever since the twin bombings on a peace rally in Ankara on October 10 killed 102 people and wounded around 500 people, which is said to be the worst such attack in the country’s history.

There was no immediate comment from the prime minister’s office or no further information about the Antalya raids. Ankara was planning further military action against the terror group, without revealing how they plan to do it or where they plan to.

“We have plans to act militarily against them in the coming days,” Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu said in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil, describing the IS group as a “clear and present threat”.

Just days before the parliamentary elections, the IS group was blamed for attacks in Turkey when two people were killed at a rally staged by the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir. Turkey has been criticised by its Western allies for not doing enough to contain the rise of the extremist group. The first air strikes were launched by Turkey against the IS targets in Syria after a deadly bombing on a border town in July. However, most of it was diverted on Kurdish fighters based in northern Iraq, violating a 2013 truce between Turkey and the rebels.

Dozens of IS suspects have been rounded up in recent weeks in raids across the country. “After the Ankara bombing, a sleeper cell acting on orders from the jihadists in Syria carried out the massive attacks in order to disrupt Sunday’s election, the second in five months,” Turkish prosecutors said.

It was also speculated that a cell was plotting another major atrocity, such as hijacking a plane or a vessel. The recent Russian airlines that crashed was claimed to have been brought down by the IS, but aviation experts have rubbished those claims by the terror group.

The latest crackdown comes after the recent elections saw President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) regain the parliamentary majority it lost in June. Vowing to press ahead with operations against all “terrorists” including the Islamic State and the outlawed rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Mr Erdogan can be expected to regain his lost political capital with decisive actions against terrorists of all hues.

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