20 ISIL suspects detained in Antalya ahead of G-20 summit

ANTALYA – Doğan News Agency

DHA Photo

Turkish police have detained 20 suspects in an operation against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Turkey’s southern Antalya province, a week before the start of a G-20 summit in the same province.
 
Counterterrorism police launched simultaneous operations in central Antalya, as well as the city’s Alanya and Manavgat districts, early on Nov 6. 

Some 20 militants were detained in the raids, while digital materials were seized. 

According to reports, the militants had been in touch with ISIL militants in neighboring Iraq and Syria. 

After undergoing a medical examination, all suspects were brought to the anti-terror branch office to be interrogated by the police. 

Reports indicate that two of the detained are women, while another two are of Russian origin. 

The Russian suspects arrived in Antalya from Istanbul and were planning to cross the border into Syria. They also had links to a couple of married Russian suspects, identified by the initials M.B. and E.A.R., who were detained in an anti-ISIL operation in Antalya on Oct. 29. 

The detentions come at a time when the Deputy Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL Brett McGurk is in Ankara to consult with senior Turkish officials on the fight against ISIL, as a follow up to the international meetings in Vienna on Oct 30-31. 

Meanwhile, Antalya is the location for a G-20 summit set to start next week with the attendance of political leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama. The summit will be held between Nov. 15-16 and the war in Syria is certain to be high on the agenda.

Turkey has been on the hunt for ISIL extremists since the twin bombing on a peace rally in Ankara on Oct. 10 that killed 102 people and wounded around 500, the worst attack of its kind in the country’s history.