Istanbul police seize guns at anti-drug association linked to ISIL

ISTANBUL - Doğan News Agency

Istanbul police on April 8 seized seven shotguns and 16 handguns at a youth association which is suspected to have links with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Police raided the Şehremini Youth and anti-Drug Association in the Fatih district and the homes of its founders upon an anonymous tip that guns were stashed in the association’s building. 

While no illegal materials were found in the house raids, seven shotguns, 16 handguns, 21 charger clips and 110 bullets were found in a stash hidden between two walls. 

The six suspects detained during the operations are accused of selling arms over the Internet.

The police said all suspects had criminal records, and an association founder, identified only by his initials M.İ., had been detained multiple times earlier on charges of drug, theft and resisting the police.



It was also found out that M.İ. and another suspect had set up social media accounts under names “Ebu Zer" and "Ebu Katade," through which they shared messages promoting ISIL.

The arms trade was also made through those social media accounts, the police said.

The police are now investigation in detail the ties between the association and the jihadist group, which killed at least 150 people in four suicide attacks in Turkey since last July.