𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐰.

During security sweeps in eight different regions, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya declared on March 26 that since March 23, security forces have detained at least 40 persons with alleged ties to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. Turkish Minute confirmed this information on March 26.

Two suspects, Tajik nationals Rachabalizoda Saidakrami and Shamsidin Fariduni, were able to travel freely between Russia and Turkey due to no arrest warrants issued against them. Turkish security officials claimed that two of the four Islamic State gunmen who struck Moscow on March 22 had spent some time in Istanbul; however, they also claimed that the terrorists had received their radicalization and training in another place.

The Islamic State group has said they were responsible for the Moscow attack, and IS-affiliated media channels have published graphic videos of the gunmen inside the venue. Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged for the first time that “radical Islamists” were behind last week’s attack at the concert hall, but suggested they were linked to Ukraine. Turkish authorities have rounded up scores of suspects with alleged links to IS extremists in nationwide raids, with 147 suspects detained during simultaneous raids carried out in 30 cities across the country. The official said Turkey would continue to fight all terror groups, including IS, “without interruption.”

  Given Turkey’s geographic location, porous borders, and potential for radicalization, the threat posed by the Islamic State is likely to persist even in the event of a prospective crackdown.  The Islamic State stated that its attack on a Roman Catholic church in Istanbul on January 28 was a part of its larger worldwide campaign to target people who identify as Jews or Christians. The incident resulted in one fatality. During June 2023, Turkish officials have carried out over 1,300 operations in Turkey and apprehended about 2,700 Islamic State suspects, of whom approximately 700 have been legally arrested.

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