ANKARA, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkey on Friday has issued an arrest warrant for 18 Turkish nationals for allegedly providing financial aid to the Islamic State (IS) group, the semi-official Anadolu Agency reported.
The police teams carried out simultaneous raids in 12 provinces of Turkey as part of a capital Ankara-based operation and detained 12 suspects.
The suspects were allegedly providing assistance to the IS by collecting cash aid through their bank accounts.
Turkish authorities found out that the money was transferred to the members of the IS who are residing in Turkey and operating in the conflict zones in Syria, along with their families.
The Turkish government designated the IS a terrorist organization in 2013, blaming the group for a spate of deadly attacks in Turkey since 2015. The Turkish counter-terrorism forces have been conducting operations against the IS members in the country.
Turkey's southern border with Syria has been a major crossing point for Syrians and foreign fighters since the crisis started in the neighboring country in 2011.
