Army catches Turkish citizen, 13 foreigners set to join ISIL

ANKARA

AA Photo

Fourteen people, including one Turk, who were en route to joining the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have been captured, the Turkish military said in a statement on its official website Feb. 11, as Turkey intensifies its efforts to cut the flow of recruits to the group.

The group was caught in a neighborhood in the Oğuzeli district of the southeastern province of Gaziantep at noon on Feb. 9, the military statement said.

Another Turkish citizen, identified as 38-year-old Musa Göktaş, was arrested late last month, according to a Feb. 4 media report, which said this was the first time a Turkish citizen was caught for such a reason.

The semi-official Anadolu Agency also reported that four other suspected ISIL members were arrested in Gaziantep. The General Staff also announced Feb. 5 that five suspected members of ISIL were arrested in Gaziantep in the span of a week.

Separately, the General Staff announced Feb. 7 that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) opened fire with an anti-aircraft gun in Şırnak, while a suspected member of ISIL surrendered with his weapons in Şanlıurfa, another southeastern Turkish province.