Turkey detains 357 Islamic State suspects nationwide after deadly clash

Raids across 21 provinces followed a deadly gunfight in Yalova, as authorities intensified operations against Islamic State ahead of the holiday season.

Reuters

30 December 2025 at 11:17:57

FILE PHOTO: A general view of the house where Turkish security forces launched an operation believed to contain suspected Islamic State militants, and where, three Turkish police officers and six Islamic State militants were killed in a gunfight, according to authorities, in Yalova province, Turkey, December 29, 2025.

Umit Bektas/Reuters

Turkish police detained 357 suspects in a nationwide operation against Islamic State on Tuesday (December 30), the interior minister said, a day after three police officers and six militants were killed in a gunfight in northwest Turkey.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said authorities carried out raids in 21 provinces across the country.

Earlier, the Istanbul prosecutor's office had said police raided 114 addresses in Istanbul and two other provinces, and various digital materials and documents were seized.

Police clashed with the militants on Monday (December 29) in an eight-hour siege at a house in the town of Yalova, on the Sea of Marmara coast south of Istanbul, a week after more than 100 suspected IS members were detained in connection with alleged plans to carry out Christmas and New Year attacks.

Eight police officers and another security force member were wounded in the raid on that property, which was one of more than 100 addresses targeted by authorities on Monday.

Production: Omer Berberoglu/Reuters