Turkey foils mass ISIS plot

It said anti-terror and intelligence units established that the suspects had been in contact with people who would provide logistic support for the attack.

Displaced Yazidis fleeing ISIS in Sinjar walk toward the Syrian border in August 2014 (photo credit: RODI SAID / REUTERS)
Displaced Yazidis fleeing ISIS in Sinjar walk toward the Syrian border in August 2014
(photo credit: RODI SAID / REUTERS)
Turkish authorities have detained 43 people suspected of belonging to Islamic State and of plotting attacks targeting celebrations of Turkey’s national day on Tuesday, police and state media said.
The detentions came two days after US President Donald Trump announced that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been killed in a raid by US special forces in northwest Syria, near the Turkish border.
The suspects were detained in Istanbul and the northwestern province of Bursa in three separate operations, according to a police statement and the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Three of the suspects who were believed to have been preparing an attack to disrupt Republic Day celebrations in Istanbul, were detained on Tuesday, Anadolu said.
It said anti-terror and intelligence units established that the suspects had been in contact with people who would provide logistic support for the attack.
Anadolu said another 26 suspected Islamic State members were detained in Bursa on Tuesday. It said 12 of them were Syrian nationals and that proceedings were underway to deport them. The other 14 suspects were sent to the police, it added.