Overview
- Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said police conducted simultaneous operations in 21 provinces, detaining 357 suspected Islamic State affiliates.
- The sweep followed a Yalova operation that escalated into hours of gunfire, leaving three police officers dead and six ISIS suspects, reported as Turkish nationals, killed.
- Istanbul prosecutors had earlier ordered 137 arrests based on intelligence indicating planned attacks during Christmas and New Year festivities.
- Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunç said five suspects were placed in custody in the investigation opened by the Yalova prosecutor.
- President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed a determined, multifaceted counterterrorism campaign as officials underscore vigilance along Turkey’s roughly 900‑kilometer border with Syria.