Turkey’s interior minister praises ‘heroic’ security forces for catching ISIL suicide bombers

TRABZON

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has praised the security forces for their “heroism” in carrying out anti-terror operations across Turkey. 

The main focus of Soylu’s remarks was the operation in the southern province of Hatay on June 24 in which five suspected Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) suicide bombers planning deadly attacks were seized in an operation carried out by police and intelligence units on Turkey’s border with Syria.

“Our heroic friends neutralized five ISIL terrorists trying to go to Hatay. They said: ‘Don’t do anything against our people. I will stop this and it doesn’t matter what happens to my own life.’ This is an outstanding understanding,” he said during an Eid al-Fitr event in the Black Sea province of Trabzon on June 26. 

Soylu also said two outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants planning to stage attacks were “neutralized” in the eastern province of Van. 

The authorities use the word “neutralized” to refer to militants who are killed, wounded or captured.  
     
“All of our friends and security forces are on duty with the utmost caution and the highest spirits. Our commanders, police chiefs, soldiers and village guards have the same determination as our people,” he added. 

“Five attackers who were sent to our country from Syria to carry out suicide bombings were caught in an operation on June 23 before they reached central Hatay,” the authorities stated on June 24.