Turkish police hold 100 in IS crackdown

Turkish police have detained at least 100 people suspected of links to the Islamic State group, Turkey’s official news agency said yesterday.

Istanbul police conducted simultaneous operations at multiple districts to detain 82 foreigners, Anadolu Agency reported. The suspects had allegedly been active in conflict zones with IS and planned on going to Syria.

Separately, Anadolu said 11 Syrian nationals were detained in the southern province of Adana for alleged links to IS. Seven others, whose nationalities were not revealed, were detained in western Izmir province. The nationalities of the 82 foreigners detained in Istanbul also were not disclosed.

The operations are part of Turkey’s effort to clamp downonis.policedetained more than 170 IS suspects in a sweep in the capital, Ankara, on Thursday. The Istanbul detentions were part of operations to protect commemorations of the 79th anniversary of founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s death.